I gave some thought to the idea of flagging the fastest run (the world record) with an icon of sorts. In the end, I dislike it, or rather, I see a bunch of issues with it.
The issue is that the fastest run is really
subjective.
For starters, let's take Super Mario Bros., you can have the fastest possible SMB run completing only 8 levels, or you can complete all 32 levels. In truth, both are the fastest runs for their objectives, and each has its own world record. To prove the point, we have a Vault Tier which takes fastest any% and fastest 100%.
This same point applies for singling the fastest run which uses a single player or multiple players to complete a game. Both can be equally deserving over their own recognized record, even if one branch is faster than the other.
The next problem can be demonstrated with
[2380] SNES Super Mario World "game end glitch" by Masterjun in 01:39.74 vs.
[1944] SNES Super Mario World "warps" by bahamete, kaizoman666, Mister & PangaeaPanga in 09:57.82. Which is the record? There's two ways one can look at this:
1)
[2380] SNES Super Mario World "game end glitch" by Masterjun in 01:39.74 is the record holder because it's the faster of the two.
2)
[1944] SNES Super Mario World "warps" by bahamete, kaizoman666, Mister & PangaeaPanga in 09:57.82 is the record holder because the above movie is disqualified because it uses arbitrary code.
Alternatively, based on how one defines the ending, executing the credits or defeating Bowser and rescuing the princess will also determine which should be considered the record holder.
Since records are in truth subjective, I don't think we should necessarily be adding icons to show some runs are records and contrasting that others aren't. In fact, in most cases, when you see just two runs with clear labels, it's clear what a record is and you can use your own common sense or feelings. If we do need some indicators when there's a bunch of branches, perhaps we should consider counter imagery for branches which definitely are not considered any kind of record, for example, playarounds. Although, personally, it seems rather obvious to me that with the right labeling, that playarounds and similar are not record holders either.
