Commander Keen: Battle of the Brains any% -

Commander Keen: Battle of the Brains version 2.5, DOSBox version 0.74-3 on max cycles. Max cycles minimize loading times, which is more significant for some mods.

Start time is the first frame of movement following a new game; end time is the first frame of the cutscene following end of gameplay. Original video date: 2025/09/28

The final entry in the "The Universe Is Toast!" trilogy and by far its biggest and fanciest. This game's packed to the brim with new music (a unique one for each level), takes place across multiple planets, and features a showdown against Keen's archenemy to boot. It's a ton of fun to get through, though I recommend the use of saves moreso than ever before as the levels are quite big.

Unfortunately, the run itself doesn't get to show off how cool the mod really is: a whopping 11/12 levels are optimal as death-exits, including the boss. Originally I routed out a few levels in full, but it turns out even the barriers to the final area can be unlocked by simply finishing the level, so it's just a rush to find something deadly on the right side of each map. Most of the luck was on my side here, too, save the Cybloog in the penultimate level both going the wrong direction and somehow firing a blank the first time.

I've been looking into a glitchless variant and, while lengthy, is doable... except for the very last level. Dealing with Mortimer across the entire Warpcore is extremely challenging, luck-based, and one spot in particular is absolutely mortifying to get him to cooperate. The fact that the whole run hinges on the nastiest issue being at the very end of what would probably be my longest Keen run to date strikes me as a little out of reach, unless I manage to find some better manipulations. Much as I'd like to give this game a better speedrun, this might be the best we'll see out of it.