Guitar Hero expert finally annihilates world record 200% speedrun of the game's hardest song after trying and failing 50,000 times

Guitar Hero
(Image credit: Activision)

There are men, there are kings, and then there are Guitar Heroes – a special class of supernatural beings that Twitch streamer CarnyJared certainly belongs to. After nine months of toil, Jared recently was able to complete the world's first full combo of 'Through the Fire and Flames,' what's considered to be the rhythm game series' most difficult song, at 200% speed on PC clone Clone Hero.

In a recent interview with esports personality Jake Lucky, Jared says the achievement has always been "seen as the most highly coveted world record," so he's always dreamed about nabbing it.

"Especially at 200," he continues. "That was the speed that I really wanted, because I see it as the ultimate world record for ['Through the Fire']." He originally obtained the world record at 180% speed in 2024, but it wasn't enough – he's spent the nine months since his last 'Through the Fire and Flames' achievement working his way toward 200%.

Anyone observing Jared's winning attempt could see why the feat took as long as gestating a human baby. As the notoriously demanding 'Flames' begins to pick up like a gust of wind, notes begin to flood Guitar Hero's virtual fretboard, and Jared's eyes narrow.

A "full combo" requires a player to hit every single note that shoots their way, so Jared begins to slap his fingers – sometimes using both hands – against his plastic guitar's neck in a way that I never knew was anatomically possible. Moving methodically, Jared finishes 'Through the Fire and Flames' with the solemnity of a monk before realizing what he's done and erupting into a giant "YES! YES! YEEES!"

Jared tells Jake Lucky during his interview that just learning how to play 'Through the Fire and Flames' at the intense 200% speed was a challenge, even though he'd ostensibly already mastered the song at 180%.

"To put it to an actual number," Jared says about his 200% speedrun training period, "it was five hours, basically, five days a week [...] for nine months. I restart runs at a different rate every single day, but I would say [it took] above 50,000 attempts." Never give up.

YouTuber reinvents the modern speedrun by chugging laxatives and shocking himself with a dog collar while playing Five Nights at Freddy's most disappointing sequel, and I can't stop watching.

CATEGORIES
Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at GamesRadar+. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
Guitar Hero
18 years after Guitar Hero 2 released, a streamer has completed the hardest challenge there is - perfecting all 74 songs back-to-back without missing a single note
Dark Souls 3
After almost 2 years of attempts, Dark Souls legend completes his brutal 7-game "God Run 3": Demon's Souls to Elden Ring without taking a single hit, all at level 1
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
Punch-Out speedrunner "took 75,000 attempts over nearly 5 years" landing 1-in-10,000 luck and 21 frame-perfect punches to finally beat Mike Tyson in under 2 minutes
Elden Ring
After 3 weeks and 115 attempts, Elden Ring sicko becomes the "first in the world" and "probably the last" to complete a no-hit run at uncapped NG+1,000
Elden Ring
After 48 hours and 729 deaths, Elden Ring sicko takes on the RPG's hardest challenge so far by beating the base game and DLC on NG+ 1,000 without getting hit once
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree final boss Radahn stares into the camera, holding a sword in each hand.
After 423 hours and over 15,000 total deaths, Elden Ring player finally beats Shadow of the Erdtree without the upgrades FromSoftware urged everyone to use: "Never give up"
Latest in Simulation Games
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero expert finally annihilates world record 200% speedrun of the game's hardest song after trying and failing 50,000 times
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke gives his official approval to the Stardew Valley mod that brings the D&D RPG to Pelican Town
Boro and Alta sit on a bench together in Wanderstop
Wanderstop review: "Exalting the transformative power of tea"
InZOI screenshot
The Sims rival InZoi has 300 people hanging out in each of its in-game cities and they all "interact with each other in real-time"
InZOI screenshot from creation studio demo which depicts a shockingly realistic character model rendered in Unreal Engine 5
The director behind The Sims competitor InZOI spent 20 years making MMOs, but he ditched the massive RPGs after playing life sims with his son
Demon Slayer season 4 episode 2
True to the anime, Stardew Valley's hottest mod adds two romanceable Demon Slayer dudes who are both "rude and standoffish" at first
Latest in News
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero expert finally annihilates world record 200% speedrun of the game's hardest song after trying and failing 50,000 times
Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place Part 2
A Quiet Place 3 is finally happening, but it'll be a while because John Krasinski is so busy: "It's hard to get him"
Atomfall screenshot
Fallout: New Vegas is a big inspiration for Atomfall, which is why you’ll be able to kill every NPC in post-apocalyptic Cumbria
Giancarlo Esposito in The Electric State
The Electric State star Giancarlo Esposito explains why adapting the bleak novel into a family friendly adventure was the right decision: "I'm going to bring my children with me"
soldiers dropping in from the sky and looking over verdansk
Warzone's original map is returning next month, but it's still not enough: "We don't just want Verdansk back. We want everything back"
Penn Badgley and Charlotte Richie in You season 5
You season 5 trailer introduces Joe's new love interest and teases familiar faces in the final installment of the Netflix thriller