So what is a superplay? A superplay is, according to one website, one or a combination of three things: doing a ‘speed run’ (finishing a game in the shortest amount of time possible), doing a ‘time attack’ (finishing a game as quickly as possible, and doing it as perfectly as possible), and aesthetic forms (doing amazing things within a game).
Watching some of these movies is simply amazing, especially the ones done without the help of an emulator.
Wait a minute. What do I mean, ‘without the help of an emulator’?
Most of the time attacks and aesthetic forms were created with the help of an emulator that allows games to be slowed down, and allow the game to be backed up a few seconds and tried again if a mistake is made. Oh, and that gets some people so mad. They go on about how it ‘doesn’t take any real skill to pull off a time attack when you can just go and redo all your mistakes’ or some such. Yeah, that’s true, but the end product is entertaining to watch, if nothing else. If that bothers you, then there are several more videos out there that aren’t made with the help of an emulator that are just as amazing (look for the Donkey Kong Country 101% in 50 minutes video for an example).
If you take the videos for what they are (entertainment) then you’ll get just that out of them. I like seeing some of the games that gave me so many frustrations in my formative gaming years get systematically picked apart, regardless of how it was done.