Kururin Squash Speedrunning FAQ

Q: What is this glorious game?
A: This is Kururin Squash. The third game of the Kururin series, it was only released in Japan on the Gamecube. Much like it's predecessor - Kururin Paradise (for the GBA). The first game, Kuru Kuru Kururin (also on GBA) did make it out of Japan, and it also available on WiiU VC, along with the Switch online.

It is very possible that you have never seen any of the games before - but have seen the Helirin before, the stick shaped helicopter that is going through the stages. It appears in Smash games, if you played Brawl you almost certainly saw it as an assist trophy at some point.  

Q: So how did this game end up on this stream?
A: While Kururin Squash was released in 2004, it really gained notoriety when avid gamer of honest credentials, stylonide, booted it up in the practice room at ASM 2023. Here, the game attained it's status as one of legend, and of reverence.

You can find chronicles of the initial evolution here: x.com/stylonide/status/1678984170125791232

Since then it has remained in mind of all who attended the event, and the honest gamers honed their skills in order to present it on a grander stage. Nearly 2 years on, it is my time to present it to you all.

Q: Wow this seems amazing. Will we ever see this game at an event? Let's say, an AusSpeedruns Marathon?
A: That's an incredible question - yes! This game was featured as a relay race between all 4 of us at ASM 2025
You can find that run in all it's glory here: 

Q: What category are you running?
A: I'll break it down the 2 parts.

1) "All Coins" this refers to getting all the coins in every stage. The stages are filled with coins that you can collect, as well as in some stages, enemies to defeat that drop coins. All Coins is, as you can probably guess, getting all of them in every stage.

2) "Honest". As true honest gamers, we don't want to exploit the system of this game. As we optimised the first stage over and over, many thoughts entered our heads of how we could game the system. For example for individual level runs, you could game the IGT system by doing dishonest things such as waiting in the starting box, or by pausing repeatedly. And for real time speedruns, you could take damage on purpose, which by game design would incur you a 3 second penalty, but would be irrelevant if timed by real time.

And we wished for none of this. We all wished for pure and honest rotation. And so, we abide by the honest ruleset. For Individual Level times, waiting in the start area is strictly forbidden! Pausing is forbidden! Go fast and rotate with precision!

For full game runs, you can't simply say don't get hit. However, for my attempts, I will count all penalties and add them to my time at the end!

Q: So, how does this game work?
A: The game itself is visually pretty self explanatory.
Controls - Holding B increases your movement speed (you are always holding this)
Holding R increases your rotation speed (you are alternating a lot between doing this and not)
Moving the control sticks moves you (duh)
Pressing/holding A does the action of the special Helirin, found in half the stages. 
In world 1, pressing it does the punch. In world 2, holding it keeps you underground. In world 3, holding it activates the flamethrower. In world 4, holding it builds it a tornado that you can fire. In world 5, holding it autofires the guns, and pressing it fires the guns (mashing can get faster inputs than the autofire)

Q: What are you playing on?
A: I'm playing off a Wii, capturing with a Retrotink 2x mini -> Elcheapo HDMI capture.
 
Q: What is your goal time?
A: I don't have one, but if I'm being honest my absolute goal is just to have the WR for even a second. If I can do that, I'll be over the moon.