The Fascinating Shortcuts of Celeste Speedruns

Here's the story behind the incredible shortcuts in the Celeste speedrun. By learning how to run the game myself, I was quickly convinced this is the best speedrun game ever designed. Let me show you why in this video and break down some of the insane techniques, enjoy!
Patreon: / mynameisben
Twitter: / itsben321
Twitch: / itsben321
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[@MyNameIsBen]

Some clarifications because some people of the Celeste community seem upset about this but: -Evil Madeline is often referred to as Badeline -I am very much a beginner speedrunner in Celeste and wanted to document and share what I found fascinating, I don't claim to be a pro

[@nubert2036]

Why were people mad about this? I think this video is a good showcase of what celeste speedrunning is. Good job on this video!

[@stutavagrippa8690]

Technically "Evil Madeline" is called "Part of Me" or "Part of Madeline" in the game. The community calls her "Badeline" though.

[@catrinacoons390]

@@nubert2036 I find that people in the community are often kind of gatekeepey about the silliest of things (Though that often is the case for most communities).

[@Celeste4922]

I personally like the name Badeline

[@Celeste4922]

I’m the trading cards you can get on steam for the game Madeline’s evil twin is referred to as Badeline

[@transformersrevenge9]

I'm not a good gamer. I just recently bought a gaming laptop, and got into gaming. I suck at games. My first Celeste run (all strawberries) took 61 hours. After that, I wanted the under hour time, I learned skips, mechanics (still can't neutral jump though), and practiced a lot. And I just couldn't make it under hour. Dozens of attempts ending at 1H 2-4M. And just a few days ago, I really got into the zone, and finished a run in 0:56:28. I am so proud of my journey, from July to December, from 61 hours to 56 minutes.

[@happypi3ygo157]

Congrats!

[@haikall5479]

Woah thats cool great job man

[@transformersrevenge9]

@@haikall5479 beat it by 1 min 43 sec just recently. But I can't get it down any further than that.

[@SwainixFPV]

@@transformersrevenge9 i ran it a few times but I didn't really improve it until I played some modded maps that have made me more consistent at the basic running mecanics. Once I played some Spring Collab or Strawberry Jam recently I got my time "easily" under 50. I'm not really commited to improve that more tho lol

[@trevorgayheart8110]

Sounds to me like you're a good gamer

[@ParrotDash]

Very nice video, covers pretty much all the basics and important things for people starting out with speedrunning this game aswell, also just a really well written and cleanly edited video, explained everything pretty well and in an entertaining way, always love to see more good video resources for Celeste

[@Terra1149]

hi parrot

[@pixelblitz8087]

hi carrot pash

[@Violetttttttttttttt]

hi parrot

[@abrasmage]

ofc parrot is here

[@MyNameIsBen]

[@TheIndieGhost]

1:48 "This chapter is obviously not too difficult" I died 648 times trying to beat chapter 1

[@TheAdvertisement]

Difficulty is relative.

[@GG-ow3ke]

Lol

[@leaf1673]

“I finished it in around 15 minutes” im ngl i knew my 2 hours was bad but i didnt know it was THAT bad 💀💀💀

[@magnus1819]

@@leaf1673 same, it took my friend like 15 mins but I remember it taking me like at least an hour I think it was because he was on controller This was my first platformer ever on keyboard so thats my main guess on why he beat it so fast

[@Slugcat317]

i beat farewell in less attempts than chapter 1 it just took me like 3 months to get used to the controls (was my first 2d platformer)

[@boss-oj9gu]

24:40 thats actually a reverse super. good video with alot of the basics for new runners. would've liked to see you go into more detail about corner boosts, hyper bhops and ultras because all very important but i still enjoyed. gl running the game :)

[@user-ms8kw4xn1p]

0:14 is a reverse super too

[@TH-dg2mm]

You know Celeste is an insane game to speedrun when you make a 30 minute tutorial covering different techniques and people in the comments list all the stuff you missed. Think this is the one of the 2 best speedrunning games ever made (Mario64 being the other).

[@zealiketea]

i personally call the blue circle things in chapter 6 bumpers, no idea if the wider community uses that or something else but i prefer bumpers (not a super big fan of them as a mechanic though, pretty annoyed they were brought back for core)

[@he_rules3763]

yeah they’re pretty widely referred to as bumpers not everyone calls them that but most celeste players you talk to would know what you’re talking about if you said bumper

[@dudu28r81]

Back when i was running (like 2019) some of us used to call them Kevin, not sure if that's still a thing

[@Beasto]

@@dudu28r81 I think the Kevin blocks were the blocks we dash into the side to move them in that direction (named after the sound designer Kevin who made the noise for them)

[@dudu28r81]

@@Beasto my bad,i thought those were the ones they were talking about

[@Isaactayy]

16:04 why you gotta do me like that lol jokes aside really good video, you kept it nice and simple and the vid is very well researched. great job :)

[@MyNameIsBen]

haha thanks! Also huge congrats on the sub 26, saw you hit it live and the hype was too real :D (always had your streams open on the 2nd monitor lol)

[@hurkyl1560]

I always found it weird that people don't like wind. I found it interesting -- especially the super strong wind -- because it changes your options, so you get these little screen-sized puzzles about how to progress with your new movement options.

[@MagicianStevey]

I hate wind

[@EskiMosher]

I really enjoyed the wind mechanic, until i tried to get the golden berries. If you have multiple tries to get the "feeling" of how strong it is, it's a lot of fun. But if it changes every single room it can get a little annoying/difficult.

[@DarkStarCoreX]

@@MagicianSteveyI thought Magicians could fly using funny broom thingys.

[@Slugcat317]

0:18 "abusing the speed limit" you mean abusing the lack of a speed limit lmao

[@FredTheSpider]

Momentum*

[@wibs20]

Lovely video for a lovely game! Thanks for making this, I thoroughly enjoyed watching it from start to finish

[@voice4397]

i love how he says spike jump at the beginning and the video shows a normal ass wall jump

[@meikainakibo403]

Really cool video, the documentation was well done and the fact that yourself tried running the game out also for the purpose of the video is pretty nice, as the commentary section pointed it out there's just a few things that weren't 100% accurate but to be fair they're not really important when the video is not mainly destined to the most experienced runners so yeah keep going you're doing a great job !! Also i really like the fact that you said those were walljumps and not jumps off of spikes' hitbox because many tutorials and stuff don't explain that although it's actually important

[@TheAdvertisement]

What an extremely well put together video! As someone who is far from a speedrunner but has been in the Celeste community since the game first game out, you hit every mark. It was fun to see how we basically had the same learning process. I learned most of these tricks just from others in the community showing them off or teaching me with hard maps, and I learned most of them in the same exact order! And yeah same, despite having it explained to me twice I still have no idea how ultra jumps work. xD I'm so glad that Celeste's engine is this expansive. The amount of thought put into the movement of this 2D platform, with the uncapped speed and crazy opportunity for momentum usage with weird dash jumps and crazy use of mechanics, is amazing. Even from the Pico-8 version of the game (yup that's right, for anyone who didn't know the original demo of this game was a "small" Pico-8 version that maxed out the amount of sprites that could be used, and was made for a competition which it of course won), it's been clear that EXOK games loves speedrunning. Making the rooms so open and leaving so many strategies in that they could've patched out, and even adding features like the demo dash button to assist speedrunners is such a great change of pace! Plus a ton of little secrets routes you can take, like 26:42! Hell, the Farewell DLC even has tons of intentional, harder to perform but faster skips! Celeste is _the_ speedrunning game, and I'm so glad it got the love it deserves. P.S. Door skip saves a thousand years.

[@jasonc3457]

Loving the uploads here. BGs is great but awesome to see you making awesome content here too. Thank you Ben!

[@Soma_Es]

Idk why but as soon as I saw the stuff in the celestial resort I called it malice

[@theomnibenevolence]

botw?

[@Soma_Es]

@@theomnibenevolence ya

[@Badmarchapril]

Celeste devs be like : "Hey, there are a few bugs involving movement." "Yeah? Do they break the game?" "No."" "Ok, leave them in." "Why?" "Oh yeah, also keybind them" "WHY?" "Because." *leaves room*

[@DarkStarCoreX]

Celeste devs are so awesome lmao. When we discovered hyperdashes and Wavedashes, they put it in the game. Then when demodashes were discovered, they just went "eh, cool!" and made a secret room in farewell which requires it.

[@shadxw6281]

I’m so surprised by how good you are. I played modded for 200 hours and I’m just getting into speed running, and you’re pulling off very optimal skips and rooms in a fraction of the time, like depths cornerboost is crazy!

[@italicmuscle4786]

Celeste speedruns: where spikes become suggestions and physics is ignored

[@olekkatan6614]

27:05 actually, this saves 7 years and any run not performing it is invalid

[@SuperDZ555]

6:14 UMMMMM Ackshuwallie these floating spikes are called SPINNERS

[@void1359]

You probably already know, but there are many other youtubers besides that both speedrun the game and make guides. The speedrunners all help to make an amazing community- they are all extremely helpful with questions and the like. Their videos are great for learning new strategies, easy and hard, simple or advanced. Or they're a great place to just relax. All of them are a part of a great community. There are guides less advanced than Programmatic's- Benteezy's old guide- and more advanced guides from multiple speedrunners for various different runs. (All Hearts, any%, 100%, all Bsides, bny%, farewell, etc. Great community for a magnificent game.

[@deims2222]

"we meet, evil Madeline" come on, you had one job.. you can ask anyone who play Celeste and they will tell you, her name is Badeline

[@chronosVR.2763]

he is *correct* though

[@rubenvanderark4960]

​@@chronosVR.2763At first yes. Later you become allies and when together

[@wagiqwq]

Amazing video for your subs and views! You deserve way more dude

[@Dillarune]

celeste content!! good and fun video, great job!

[@aegoni6176]

I just blinked once and Madeleine flies what feels like 20 meters right before my eyes. What those speedrunners do is completely incomprehensible to me

[@jakepaul588]

great video on a great game!

[@wong7320]

Really good video!

[@realbirb]

The things that bump you in the air (in the Kevin area) are called bumpers.

[@gigiobigio0002]

hitboxes are actually really generous now that i think about it

[@CouchBois]

Pov geometry dash hitboxes

[@mateopanza9350]

1:07 you can also use a reverse wavedash same thing as reverse hyper, but with a wavedash

[@evan8895]

Oooh a Celeste video *like* well done. Very fun and interesting, well explained and edited.

[@adamismaili8363]

nice job, keep it up!

[@ScaleParasitoid]

Awesome video! Thank you for your art

[@ICountFrom0]

All Hail Badeline, our better half.

[@dungewar]

The introduction of every chapter with detail I feel wasn't the best decision, as a person clicking this video probably already knows the game. It felt more like a summarized playthrough. Other than that, this was a very good video! (Well edited) Subbed!

[@MyNameIsBen]

I can see that, most people who know the game probably skipped ahead to the shortcuts. I included the first 7 minutes because I try to make my content enjoyable for everyone to watch, even those who never played Celeste, and help introduce them to this beautiful game.

[@dungewar]

@@MyNameIsBen I agree! More people should know about this game. I guess I haven't really thought about the people who didn't know about Celeste before watching. Thanks again for this amazing video!

[@rosemarrryy454]

Nice video!

[@fiskmactaggert5030]

wind is not the most annoying mechanic.... snow balls are WAY worse

[@miniwhiffy3465]

oh a celeste speedrun video

[@quantummidget]

Yoo Ben covering Celeste? Excellent news

[@realbirb]

For the room you wavedash skip: you don't need to wave dash I have used an extended hyper to skip that room. Idk if it's faster or slower, but I just wanted to mention it. :)

[@BigHotGarbage]

Oh my god this video needs more views

[@monsters_are_human]

Just beating this game normally is a challenge for 80% of the population. I beat it my first try with only 62 deaths. People doing it deathless is absolutely insane.

[@nomu5873]

cool video man

[@OvercastWarmth]

The entire first half of the video I was internally screaming because of the names you were butchering 10/10

[@GG-ow3ke]

"Evil madeline"

[@kitty9140]

I didn't realise the video just came out, good video

[@astroorbis]

Just started running Celeste a little over a week ago, and just got a ~1h25min!

[@ziwuri]

Oh, sick! Has your time improved since this comment?

[@astroorbis]

@@ziwuri I got a ~1h time recently, I forgot the exact number but I think it was a 1:01:36 or something Took a small break during the last few weeks but I'm thinking about streaming my runs again If you have any tips pls tell me :) AstroOrbis#9797

[@-Logan_Word-7437]

Dust bunnies? No, they’re MEATBALLS

[@BoredomStudios]

Dash Tricks 8:51 Wall Bounce 9:20 Extended Super/Hyper Dash 9:35 Reverse Hyper 10:42

[@Hampteerr]

holy shit this dude is underraited

[@Apple_Beshy]

I'm just starting my journey to speedrun celeste ❤️

[@nickbunich3165]

The fact that people call Part Of Me "evil Madeline" or "badeline" kinda makes me sad considering the story the game tells you.

[@DarkStarCoreX]

Badeline is now canon

[@josecorzo5517]

I am a person who plattined (202 strawberry’s and all hearts) two times

[@evoplayz4567]

If Celeste had trophys for goldens if would be the crypt of platformers

[@banzooiebooie]

Great video which explained very well how it works. A question to you though if you don't mind: do you use dpad, the joystick on the controller or do you use a keyboard? I did run through Celeste using almost only the joystick (thumb-stick or what you call it on Xbox controller playing on PC) but I struggled a lot to get Madelein to move precisely. I am not so used to a controller and the d-pad is a little awkward to reach so I assumed the entire game is best using the stick. But many seem to suggest the dpad is better (other than the feathers) and to my surprise quiet a few people even suggested keyboard to a platformer. Which controlling scheme is best in your opinion (or among speed runners or better seasoned players in general)?

[@DarkStarCoreX]

ANALOG STICK ALL THE WAY BABY! Never use analog stick :)

[@MaxwellCatAlphonk]

YoU FORGoT tO MENTIoN ThE SPIKeS TURNInG BLuE iN CHAPTeR SEVeN!!

[@scoutamass5924]

My man just completely glossed over 6B like it wasn’t that bad

[@user-ge5kh5rw6r]

good vid

[@jeffthomas122]

Ch 3 took me over an hour to finish lol

[@KalixThePro1]

I feel like absolutely no one knows that the dash refreshers also refresh your stamina

[@jaspersh34GD]

My current best beating chapter two is 3:38 and I’m still trying to improve lol Time to beat, not timestamp

[@andrewh2699]

We got Sub 26 minutes in Celeste! kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJPWY56CaLt5fKM

[@s3ven_six322]

The fact that resort only took you 40 minutes, & ridge took you 43 minutes first time is insane to me.. I speedrun this game now cuz it's fun, and the mods are fun too generally speaking, but first time literally took me like 32 hours prolly to reach Epilogue.. with 7 berries. 1m 33s chapter 1a on day 1 is crazy 19:00 - I didn't know that one! :O -- then again i also basically trial and errored my routes instead of following a guide... but still 19:40 - never have I ever seen those strats .. I normally do a hyper -> bhop -> cpop -> corner kick 20:20 - ah yes, first and second blockless. I always go first blockless, and *have* been able to do 2nd blockless as well. But it's too inconsistent for me to use in an actual run xD 27:35 - I still don't know how people get a sub 8 minute chapter 7a .. that's the time it takes me to reach 3000m xD 29:39 - great video!

[@Yato_q]

am i the only one who immediately rebound the dash button to a shoulder button?

[@ultrakid9045]

Fun fact: Celeste mountain is a real place

[@MansWUT]

0:40 woah woah woah where u going with that🥴

[@TryHardGamerYT]

What, are you gonna argue that she isn't? 🥴

[@hyaey]

IT’S BEN

[@zairycastellotelo3080]

Wow so pro

[@BGDMusic]

people are good at this game

[@bitop355]

batelin... not evil madline

[@aprofile1508]

cool

[@drinks_menu]

Vid starts at 8:00

[@theiaraine]

"the last chapter"

[@hek2183]

5:57 “I hour and 60 minutes”

[@abailumlerrad1037]

1 hour and 16 minutes

[@Ben-li9zb]

How do you just brush over beating all the b-sides, c-sides, and farewell, as if they're nothing? Overall though good video

[@MyNameIsBen]

They're not nothing, I mainly brushed over them cus they didn't add to the story of the speedrun. I was scared of information overload, but did want to quickly mention it as I played most of them for practice (and B-sides are use in the run)

[@Ben-li9zb]

@@MyNameIsBen I understand, but as I'm struggling to beat core b-side atm, hearing someone just brush over them without emphasizing the insanity of it is odd to me. Hopefully I'll get good enough to do the same eventually though lol

[@cubeoi]

@@Ben-li9zb The first time I got to Farewell, it felt so impossible. But now that I have more experience in the game from speedrunning and playing custom maps, it doesn't feel as hard anymore. So don't worry too much about it. Currently, I'm trying to get all the golden strawberries.

[@Ben-li9zb]

@@cubeoi all goldens? Good luck, that sounds painful

[@cubeoi]

@@Ben-li9zb Well, trying at least.. Thanks 👍

[@BoredomStudios]

11:53

[@DolanTheGreat]

it took me 4 hours to finish chapter 3

[@theiaraine]

decent time for a first playthrough

[@martin-zq3tq]

i like this vidio

[@theiaraine]

when you extend a super or hyper, you still get the dash back on the ground. Misleading explanation

[@theiaraine]

when you said spike jumps, you didn't show a spike jump.

[@justlazykid]

Ain't no way bro said evil Madeline and not Badeline

[@justlazykid]

I did read the pinned comment

[@CelesteFromCeleste]

All of this is true, I can confirm

[@AllisonTheScug]

Holy shit is that Celeste from the hit game Celeste

[@theomnibenevolence]

@@AllisonTheScug holy shit is that allisonroddy from the hit universe universe

[@heckercat5792]

@@theomnibenevolence holy shit is that the destroyerofdogs from the hit mispelling of the hit game terraria and its hit mod calamity with its hit boss devouerer of gods

[@theomnibenevolence]

@@heckercat5792 holy shit is that my alt account immitating the hit character from the beluga chanel

[@jiraibozo]

i havent completed the game so ill watch this some day but i just wanted to say i think i accidentally did whats on the thumbnail (and died shortly after cuz i wasnt going anywhere with that)

[@EO-rx8jq]

Celeste is like Super Meat Boy, but a lot easier.

[@Burst644]

wait til u see farewell

[@theiaraine]

fwg moment

[@DarkStarCoreX]

So true

[@hugoland9027]

i reccomend the mods thats ir

[@evan8895]

I find feathers to be MUCH worse than wind lol

[@Ben-li9zb]

Do you play with keyboard, because so far I've found people find feathers harder with keyboard and wind harder on controller

[@kolskytraveller1369]

@@Ben-li9zb feathers are harder than wind, with or without controller, but especially on keyboard if the section was not designed primarily with keyboard in mind (like sharp turns in advanced heartside)

[@MarioPlinplin]

Petition to change Evil Magdalene's name into ItsBen123

[@Minivirtualman]

0:40 Wdym with "Cute Girl" ._.?

[@ninenanae]

isn't she cute?

[@kutotine]

Btw, canonically she’s called Badeline, which is by far the funniest name and had me laughing for about an hour.

[@yubfollower]

Get tru

[@lonelyPorterCH]

Evil madelin is also known as badeline ;)

[@widojay2048]

To think I know nearly all of the tech, but still absolutely slow

[@0m7_]

how do you only have 2k subs

[@Enderia2]

If you’re not gonna call her Badeline, at least call her _Part of You_

[@theiaraine]

Badeline isn't evil >:(

[@Ultigames2nd]

5:57 I’m sorry 1 hour and 60 minutes? Is that a joke, cause that’s 2 hours :/

[@DarkStarCoreX]

He said sixteen

[@ogorek6660]

>video about speedrunning >Look inside >Game summary Bit clickbaity dont you think?

[@OlleWtn]

You keep saying lounge instead of launch. Are you Dutch?

[@TimofeyMarko]

Actually first

[@zsxd2345]

I share your dislike for the stupid wind 💨