How Toxic 2 Speedrunners Turned Walls into Liquid

Get Surfshark VPN at surfshark.deals/maximum - Enter promo code MAXIMUM for 83% off and 3 extra months for free!
In 2008, a Flash development company called Nitrome released Toxic 2, a 2D platformer that was a huge step up from its predecessor in almost every way. As it turns out, this game came bundled with a plethora of glitches and exploits that would be uncovered and utilized by speedrunners a decade later. This is the story of how just three speedrunners turned Toxic 2's walls into liquid to collectively set 40 Any% world records in the game.
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Bounty Information / Resources:
Update (4/26/23): All bounties have been claimed!
- The 20 people who got a sub 10 minute Any% run received $50 each.
- The 10 people who got a sub 9 minute Any% run received $100 each.
- @Vertic03 set a world record in Toxic 2 Any% and recieved $1,000.
Bounty / Competition Tracker - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Toxic 2 speedrun.com Page - www.speedrun.com/toxic2 (Game download is in the Resources tab)
Beginner Speedrun Tutorial - • Toxic 2 - Beginner Spe...
Nitrome Speedrunning Discord Server - / discord
Current Any% World Record - • [WR] Toxic 2 Any% Spee...
Any% Segmented Run - • Toxic 2 Segmented Spee...
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Music Credits:
Music List - pastebin.com/cexfJapW
All of the music used in this video was written by Lee Nicklen and Dave Cowen for various Nitrome games. They have uploaded a lot of their songs in high quality on their SoundCloud pages, which you can find below:
Lee Nicklen - / leenicklen
Dave Cowen - / davecowen
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Personal Links:
Twitch - / itsmaximum
Speedrun.com Profile - www.speedrun.com/user/Maximum
Speedruns Channel - @MoreMaximum
Twitter - / itsmaximum_
Discord Server - / discord
Patreon - / maximum
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World Record Progression Graphs Created Using- flourish.studio/
World Record Data Obtained Through the Speedrun.com API- github.com/speedruncomorg/api
#maximum #speedrun #nitrome

[@Maximum]

Get Surfshark VPN at surfshark.deals/maximum - Enter promo code MAXIMUM for 83% off and 3 extra months for free! (Spoilers Below) Update (4/26/23): All bounties have been claimed! - The *20* people who got a *sub 10* minute Any% run received *$50* each. - The *10* people who got a *sub 9* minute Any% run received *$100* each. - Vertic set a world record in Toxic 2 Any% and recieved *$1,000.* Bounty / Competition Tracker - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jdjAhgIY4V5GBnG5hkqwNimyT9TbOMBz8FL6oHbvTSU/edit?usp=sharing Toxic 2 speedrun.com Page - www.speedrun.com/toxic2 (Game download is in the Resources tab) Beginner Speedrun Tutorial - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKfJdJuQjtt4hJI Nitrome Speedrunning Discord Server - discord.gg/92hjP7PXRH Current Any% World Record - kzbin.info/www/bejne/paDHaptte7Wnodk

[@Md5offical]

Yes sir!

[@tacopinky]

congrats on first sponsor!!

[@ShadowBulb]

Where is the resources tab so I can play the game

[@lukecoleman3643]

not your fault but just so you know VPNs don't actually encrypt your or anything anymore than a browser with a lock in the upper left. look up VPN Tom Scott.

[@tacopinky]

@@lukecoleman3643 yea, but is Tom Scott a speedrunning legend??

[@ariamentio]

misread this as “2 toxic speed runners” and I thought it would be two dudes just constantly doxxing eachother

[@bettercalldelta]

" f you for retaking the WR"

[@tieman733]

same lmao

[@ArjunTheRageGuy]

i wonder if something like that actually happened

[@DiabloOfGod]

Me too :')

[@GumSkyloard]

"Oh, that's a nice WR! [ip] This you?"

[@monchete9934]

Nitrome games were a huge part of my childhood, i didn't expect to see them again after so many years

[@JamesTDG]

Indeed, it was like being punched with nostalgia

[@jplveiga]

Yess, the hours Ive put into these, and the hype I had when a new one dropped in the site! I checked it frequently. My favorite was the ice vikings

[@gdstar6917]

the only one i played was nitrome must die

[@cyberz55]

the one I played was bad ice cream on friv

[@RadikAlice]

Same

[@astrofish6163]

Love how the sponsor money goes towards incentivizing the speedrunning of undervalued games. It even makes sense from a business perspective, allowing for potential new videos to be made on the same game later on.

[@Dark_Slayer3000]

Bravo Max!

[@franco-golpeador2435]

*S T O N K S*

[@rafaelamendoim]

Yep we watched the same video

[@Neefew]

I absolutely loved Nitrome growing up. I'd watch a speedrun history of practically any nitrome game

[@JamesTDG]

It definitely has reinvigorated my interest in trying to speedrun the Viking ice breaking games they had. I tended to either play that or the demolition one they had a lot back then. I guess I should probably refresh myself on all of the solutions so I can speedrun it properly. (Oooh, I need to check in on sticky ninja)

[@thatoneguy9582]

-better see a nitrome must die speedrunning video soon-

[@adumbfurry7036]

We should

[@razorblaze4522]

Nitrome was my entire childhood. Ironic that one of my favorite games on the site was Nitrome Must Die

[@bobdrooples]

So the graphic designer with no coding spec, did the coding, while the two coding brothers did the art direction?

[@porglezomp7235]

As you got towards the 11 minute speed runs I was thinking “this would have finally been able to be uploaded to KZbin back at the beginning”

[@davidoiltonante8875]

me too lol

[@zackbuildit88]

Ayyy Kanaya pfp? If i recall my horns right, I'm a bit rusty (this is a pun all my OCs are rustbloods or close)

[@Taikamuna]

My dream has come true. My childhood games being speedran and narrated by Maximum

[@sonicmeerkat]

honestly sad to hear they got taken down off of flashpoint. i get it they wanna monotise the games themselves still, but it is a huge hit to preservation and let's be real, web ads don't even pay like they used to.

[@critarc]

they're probably going to rerelease them at some point with all these flash -> steam rereleases doing numbers

[@gamejitzu]

it is what it is, but at the same time I've always hoped we could one day get every single game rereleased on all platforms (maybe consoles would need to remove some). With something like DDLC+ where the entire website is recreated, and you can play the icon games, or even collect profile pictures. But a simple collection would also work though

[@leftysheppey]

I didn't realise nitrome did so many iconic games, nor that it was a team of, like, 4. Truly amazing. Honestly, they just didn't miss

[@emericus4649]

Absolutely phenomenal video, you've covered the history of this game perfectly and have done a tremendous job explaining all the cool tricks that were discovered along the way. It blows me away how much further you and Conor were able to push the game after I stopped running it. Seeing the entire history put into a video, especially with the comments at the end about Nitrome games as a whole, was really touching. I hope these games are forever remembered and get all the love they deserve. :3

[@boldblazervids]

12:30 Nitrome wasn't blocked at the computers at my elementary, so I used to play it often and try to "speedrun" Skywire 2 during any indoor lunch hours, before knowing what speedrunning was.

[@fyroe]

I grew up on Nitrome games. I remember my dad showing me the first Frost Bite game one day. Toxic is a certified hood classic and I remember being so excited for Toxic 2 to come out. I probably haven't seen this game in over a decade. Thanks for the massive nostalgia hit.

[@sophiegrey9576]

Toxic's movement tech looks like it'd make for a pretty cool Metroidvania...

[@vesselunknown7961]

shoutouts to max for not making a single among us joke for the entire video.

[@WinnerBit]

I am SO HAPPY to see Nitrome get the love and attention they deserve all these years later. Their games were my childhood (heck, I even started a Nitrome library completion project last year, which is still going strong!). I hope this video prompts others to discover the amazing games that Nitrome made in the golden years of Flash. 🧡

[@JamesTDG]

45:21 can confirm. It's made it hard to play for sure. I did like the pop-out player newgrounds had that played most, if not all flash games smoothly. (Unlike ruffle...)

[@TLTheLegend]

maximum during school: finding new strategies for world records me during school: dying inside

[@An1mat0rz]

Somebody should make a TAS for a hypothetical maximum, it'd be pretty cool to see how much it blows sub 8 out of the water.

[@Maximum]

There unfortunately isn’t a way to tas the game yet, but once it starts fully functioning in Ruffle, I really hope that someone puts one together

[@sircamquat]

I love nitrome so much, I'm so happy to learn about the people behind those games and to hear you acknowledge their unified aesthetic and focus on design. Their style was such a draw for me and I think their catalog as a whole is still a world class lesson in creative design

[@ccaagg]

The writing was also an absolute treasure.

[@robertzaucha1853]

"turn walls into liquid" Nah dude you straight up turned the whole game into liquid

[@BevinEG]

I love so many Nitrome games! Literally a 1/4 of my childhood.

[@aeolianthecomposer]

Wow, a whole 1/4? For me it was only 1/59 at best

[@babythorgaming2166]

Hadn't considered Nitrome speedruns before. Makes me wonder if Final Ninja has a speedrun community. If I remember it had really fun movement

[@bulb9970]

I loved this game as a kid and played it countless times when waiting for school. It's incredible how speedrunning can revive so many hidden gems, I wonder what other Nitrome games have similar scenes.

[@Corpah]

I remember in Kindergarten seeing a video about this. I drew a picture of a floor, a man in a space/rad suit and a spiked bomb with the number 5 on it. I finally found it now!

[@Ddddddddddd381]

Oh wow nitrome games is a hit of nostalgia I didn’t know I needed. I’d watch an entire video on that studio

[@SUPER7X]

I wonder if Nitrome will ever finish Flightless. They pivoted to focus on mobile, but we've seen a few Steam releases in the last few years. I think it could happen. God, that was such a fun demo.

[@melly20xx]

I'm still waiting for Super Feed Me 💀

[@ThompYT]

Playing bad ice cream is like a staple of childhood in the 2010s in my country. But I've been on a search for a flash game I only played once for FIVE YEARS. Having it constantly be in the back of my mind and obsessing over finding it on/off for F I V E years... This video helped me find it because it was made by nitrome. So thank you...

[@tegxi]

Woah, I wasn't expecting that ending! Honestly a really cool idea, encourages folks to take up speedrunning which gives them potentially a new hobby and gives the communities new life.

[@R4UL1028]

Finally! This game got the recognition it deserved! It was a huge part of my childhood along with other nitrome games, i was surprised to see it again

[@shstv-vw1fj]

nitrome was me and my brothers childhood, I don't know how I never found out about speedruns for their games. ALso love the use of so many nitrome tracks in this, its like a nostalgia pickaxe to the brain lol.

[@tyruslawhorn]

I wasn't even aware of the existence of Nitrome before watching this video and yet I was still captivated from start to finish. I couldn't imagine myself being the person who innovates some game breaking strategy in any game in the same manner that you were able to do several times in Toxic 2. That kind of outside the box thinking which essentially pushes a game right to its limit takes a blend of patience, dedication and creativity along with an intricate knowledge of the game mechanics that very few people possess. And on occasion maybe just a tiny bit of luck. Very well done, young man. I look forward to witnessing your future accomplishments

[@LiamSCL]

Surprised you haven't talked about fireboy and watergirl speedrunning before, it's pretty fun and very precise. Also the world record is currently a tie between two players, which is pretty wild. Anyways, I get it if you don't actually make a video about it but it would be cool to see and fits with your channels flash game speedrunning theme

[@cheapgorillas]

First time Max got a sponsor! Ur channel is growing so fast

[@hoodieninja_7203]

Admittedly a little surprised this is one of the most popular nitrome speed games, rather than one of the Final Ninja games, considering they're rather fast-paced by default and have some fairly interesting high-skill mechanics. Or at least, that's how I remember them. Maybe I should look into the series again.

[@4Yahoo]

I'm already curious about the next Flash game speedrun video. Your videos really good, keep it up!

[@lukecwolf]

I always so those massive toxic containers and speedrun times growing up as a kid, never knowing how either was possible. thanks for the detailed video!

[@Yum0987654321]

Can't go wrong with the choice of Nitrome music in the background. Good choices too. At first I was kind of unimpressed with the video, realizing that the record would just be swapped back and forth between two people (one of which is also the author of the video), but you managed to present the discoveries and exploits in a manner that kept it interesting. It must have been a little difficult to present the records without coming off as flaunting; I think I still get a bit of that sense in the video, but when the majority of the work is only between two people, it seems unavoidable. Great video nonetheless.

[@MINECRAFTLOVER4000]

havent even started the video yet but nitrome is like the absolute best game studio, i used to play mutiny all the time with my dad when i was like 10

[@mariahs6]

This video was an absolute nostalgia rush! I love Nitrome, it's one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to drawing! Recognizing each song in the background made me so excited, as did the overview of the company's history! All the speedrun strats were a lot of fun to learn about too!

[@PretzelBS]

Mans gonna become a full time flash speedrunner

[@joseaca1010]

I remember Nitrome games always blew my mind due to how high quality they were If i remember correctly, you could paint your own Ballon in Hot Air 2, they even had a function to share your designs online, so cool

[@epicstar86]

didn't know nitrome games (a part of my childhood) were this known to be speedran

[@redscyther7725]

When I was a kid, I managed to discover that Bigfoot skip on my own, because I was so scared of fighting him. I used it for years, never actually defeating Bigfoot until well into my teens. Seeing that there was a skip for Mother as well warms my heart, because my young self struggled with her fight for a while and lamented that I couldn't skip her like I could Bigfoot (I never thought of the exploit until I saw speedruns doing it)

[@x8c8r]

Ah yes a hood classic, turning walls into liquid

[@kapoofca]

I love Nitrome games so much. They've been a big part of my life that I always come back to, sad not every one is ported to HTML yet but there's always work arounds if you can find them.

[@msp654]

At first my brain went "wtf does he mean he was doing this stuff IN CLASS" and then I checked the clip dates and realized ah yes I was also in class back then lmao. Still getting used to the idea that the content creators I watch aren't like, a decade older than me, minimum

[@Vertic03]

Rewatching and looking at all the details, the production quality here is crazy. You're getting really good at this youtube thing heh?

[@xdxboxjaja]

Im in your liquid

[@PixelZyxelPH]

👁️👄👁️

[@theeeldeal8470]

Sandman was such a weird core memory that i did NOT expect to be unlocked in this video

[@schrodingerskitten7206]

I just wanna talk a bit abt how _musical_ your editing is! maybe it hits me harder bc I'm a musician, but whenever there's a montage with music over it in _any_ of these videos, it's just so _nice_ how there's always something that matches with the pace of the music, from cuts on the first beat of a bar to the rhythm of the melody falling perfectly with in-game actions. I've been binging your videos and this is easily the best part for me quite frankly :D you're awesome mr maximum carry on!

[@invertedmind8937]

this music is hitting me with levels of flash game nostalgia i didn't know i had

[@krumblemumble8628]

Your videos are amazing, Maximum! Can't wait to watch through this one 😊

[@moomoocowmaster8427]

Agh I miss this game!!! The music is so good too. Never thought I’d see it again, but omg I loved playing this one

[@nekoettechan5433]

the revelation that this game isn't on flashpoint is devastating because as i was watching i was thinking i should boot flashpoint back up to play it :(

[@identitytheft3353]

26:02 "THE BIGFOOT SKIP..." "THE BIGFOOT SKIP IS REAL!!!"

[@Meichrob7]

This channel is not longer filed under “the red ball guy” in my brain, it has now changed to “Summoning Salt for flash games.”

[@krenzer7]

I love watching long videos about games I’ve never played before

[@xaius4348]

Seeing this brings me immesurable joy to know that there is still a community playing old Nitrome games.

[@Dark-6678]

I had never heard of toxic or even nitrome before watching this but I legit got invested around the sub-9 milestone.

[@SaltpeterTaffy]

That moment where you showed Bowman was a nostalgia nuke for me. I played that game a bunch.

[@noneofyourbusiness4133]

37:36 i was NOT prepared for “high school it’s maximum” today. Straight up jump scared.

[@Maximum]

That was actually me in middle school lol

[@ccaagg]

Nice to see Nitrome getting some attention. Recognising which of their games each music track is from was wild.

[@nikostsigos4998]

I played that game nonstop when I was a kid, thanks for the nostalgia

[@Emerald29]

Nitrome is like the nintendo of flash games back then

[@gigachadtoad8738]

im loving that you just casually found the biggest skips in this game because you were bored in class

[@AlmostNamedOne]

I love when youre actually apart of these history videos

[@GetOffUrPhone]

Man, i remember so many afternoons after school at the school library, playing all sorts of nitrome games

[@elricconry5589]

I knew about Nitrome games because of the amount of time I spent playing Moshi Monsters as a kid, but I've never heard of Toxic. This was a really cool video!

[@jacksfacts20]

Holy shit I remember playing sandman as a kid, talk about a flash from the past.

[@arco5916]

I completely forgot about final ninja until i saw it in the background of this video, so much from my child hood I had completely forgotten about

[@daydodoodle1279]

Omg my dyslexia made me read the title as " how 2 toxic speedrunners turned walls into liquid "

[@Dark_Slayer3000]

Nitrome was my childhood, I'm happy to finally see videos about their games :)

[@midnamidnightwhisper7529]

Nitrome and Super Mario 63 brings back eons of nostalgia, the Test Subject series on Nitrome was one of the games i'll remember fondly for such a simple game, and how its story developed

[@KremBotop]

My eyes glowed when I found this in my feed. Played this duology and Nitrome games in general a lot in my youth...

[@beriukay]

At first, myy brain couldn't help but read it as "How 2 Toxic Speedrunners Turned..."

[@drazzie22]

i had no idea people were speedrunning nitrome games! i loved them as a kid

[@oceanbeans8546]

I loved Nitrome games so much. That was my favorite Game Dev as a kid

[@brawlstarsdoge]

thank you for getting me back into nitrome games as bad ice cream was my childhood game

[@TunkrDunkr]

Honey wake up, new Maximum video dropped

[@shentt.]

This sort of speedrunning stuff is my favorite thing. Ever. Thank you for this video and this story

[@patrickshanahan6795]

Oh Max, the real game you're speedrunning is making youtube love you 100%.

[@RodrigoTheHappyDog]

Misread the title and thought there were two speedrunners who were really unpleasant people

[@Dark_Slayer3000]

Your brand is a 3 minute drawing, that's just awesome xD

[@tritonwe8937]

oooh this game is so much nostalgy. i remember finding it when i was super young, like 7 or so, and i was scared of those wheel robots. i'm so happy to learn that this game was made by Nitrome, a company which I love

[@BubGames]

i had completely forgotten about this game until now

[@hydroxide7372]

I love Nitrome games, and this was one I never played. I was happily surprised to see a brief history of their games company along with this epic video.

[@SirLampsALot]

When you played the Icebreakers theme, you sent me on a confused nostalgia trip. Well done sire.

[@rivingmizzenmast]

I love that Maximum found so many of these things during class 😂

[@goforgrim]

Shoutout to class, the unsung hero that catalyzed the glitch hunt progression

[@MChatlakk]

Speedrunners likes something turning into liquid ngl

[@Anonymouseyoutuber]

Bro I could just watch a video on the history of nitrome. There games always had so much soul to them.

[@asdefree]

At first I thought the title said "how 2 toxic speed runners turned walls into liquid" and was confused

[@10EightyPlays]

I feel Deja Vu in the title.

[@peterholmes7440]

Nitrome IS my childhood. I was a prolific flash game player when I was a kid and Nitrome games were a staple.

[@averyraresnom2451]

Most the time others are doing the speed runs but this time your the main focus nice work :)

[@somelurker6115]

I didn't know people speedrun nitrome games! I played these so much when I was younger. I remember playing Square Meal on an old Mac that could barely manage 20 FPS. The art and music are just so good!

[@oxk_gaming]

Bro the Nitrome history portion of this video is awesome :))

[@jayisasalad]

Brings me back to when I would stay the night at my friends house as a child and we would play Nitrome Must Die for hours on end. Great video as always Maximum!

[@Jester-rk1xn]

Can’t wait for the follow up video of the speedrunner who beat all of the records and found tons of skips with the help of some tassers.