Thanks for the quick reply.  I'm not sure if they port them over to the Wii VC exactly the same as the original or not.  I've been meaning to hunt this game down for the NES, and this gives me a reason to do it sooner than later. 

Why not just download nestopia on your computer and find the rom for it? It's free. I think Wii VC will charge you like $5 for it.

And I was super proud of my score of 90K. My god you're a wizard at this game!  ^>^

Here's an early score. Not sure if I can do much better honestly, but I guess we will see.

EDIT: new score below, old score 143,600

Nice scores Krunch and Bea! I keep getting terrible enemy placement on Level 6 with the Ogres, Skeletons, and Red Arremers while ascending the ladders on my way to Satan. I'm sure I can get well over 200k once I pass that point.

No, no, no!
Farm yourself to death at stage 1, leave it with your very last life, get the extra life at the stages 2 and 4 and a few others through points and you will have a much easier time making it to well over 200K points, even without looping the game.
There is a 10K points king at stage 1, plus you might get a few others from the zombies, and there are mages at 4 of the tombs that are worth 2K points.
Stage 1 is the point to collect points at this game. If you loop the game, you will farm it again with a few extra lives more.

Now go and get yourself a very nice and cozy score!

Haha, that is REALLY smart! I never thought of it this way because I was always worried about the timer and getting as far as I can but you have plenty of time to farm a little bit and kill the Unicorn at the end of the stage anyways. Not to mention I can usually get to the beginning of Level 3 before losing a life unless I'm unlucky. I will definitely try that out. Thanks!

Remember, after you kill and first red arremer and cross that river platform, your timer will reset.
So, at my last life at stage 1, I cross that river when the timer is down 10 seconds left.

updated score

48,200

Yikes, I just had a run where I almost destroyed my score by the end of level 2 but the Ogres are such trolls when descending the ladders. Expect a high score today! haha

Excellent.
Also, another hint.
There is a time item that add a much needed minute to your timer after the strong men at stage two.
After getting past them, stand near the right edge at the third floating platform and jump when it is near the top. The 1 minute item will spawn.
It might save your life.

I personally never bothered looking up secrets and hints while playing the contests. I always just played from what I knew about the game. I bet some people aren't happy that a few hints and secrets have been told but I like when everyone has the same information. Makes it more interesting =)

Eh, I did the same thing for the 2011 contest, and for both the Punch Out! contests as well.
I see as a nice opportunity to make people learn a few quirks about the game and get better at them.

Score: 99,400

Was never very good at this one when I was younger but I am starting to get the hang of everything. 

618,500


Okay. I'm done with this one. Ended up dying on the first part of stage 3 in the second loop. Now I just plan on beating the game sometime this week.

Meh. I knew she was going to spill the Bea'ns on this one. It's how I learned to get the score I did without even beating the Unicorn. To really get past the 150K mark you still have to be good.

Nice score, but still lots of space to improve.
My 289K score was reached when I was at stage 5, loop 1.
Didn't get much time to play today, so I will only be updating my score tomorrow night.
I think this year the contest might be rather interesting.

Yeah, by no means is my score going to be #1, just enjoying planning out a route and using that strategy

Score updated. I have to say Bea your tips have improved my game (no pun intended) ten fold. Thank you for the insight. Even still made quite a few silly mistakes. Especially at the Dragon. I can't seem to wrap my head around an attack plan. I was using the torch (after I read that the lance was all but useless against him) and didn't
fare too well. I definitely know I can improve on that score though. Love it. ^>^

I just want to play it with a real controller. I like this game, only played a couple times, but I like it. Might change my mind if I get further along in the game. Also is it just me or can this guy not jump worth a shit?

Logo1285: I know you can get an even higher score, and that's what I am pushing you to do.
It is pretty cool seeing that you managed to break the 300K barrier that quick.


sunsetflip84: I am glad that it helped you.
Regarding the dragon, the torch is actually the most effective weapon to use against him. You just have to jump a lot and toss it. And also try to not toss two at once unless you're sure it will hit.
Practice with it a bit at stage 1 and 2 if you can, and you will see that it is not anywhere as bad of a weapon as people claim it to be.
I mostly use it during my games.

Haha, thanks. As long as the placement of the enemies isn't terrible, I can usually get rather far in the game playing normally. I should have another score up today or tomorrow. Have a few things to do but I'm going to test out a new route and go from there.

Wow, I always heard from friends that the Torch was one of the worst weapons. I think right now I'm trying to figure out its pattern. The Dragon's movements for some odd reason throw me off. I have to say your insight into the game is uncanny Bea. What are your thoughts on the weapons themselves in the game? I always stuck with the lance as it has always been my favorite. But what of the dagger (sword), ax, shield/cross, and torch? ^>^

I vote that the dagger is the best, it can be thrown the fastest, and if you like the lance, having 4 knives thrown at once is far better than 2 lances.

For me, the weapon tier in this game is torch, torch, torch, torch, torch, shield, javelin, dagger, not having a weapon at all, ax.
But that applies for me. Most people tend to disagree with this list.

I have gotten too used to the arch and the fire the torch spawns to use anything else as effectively.
The game is almost unplayable with the dagger. It is too fast and has a much too small collision box.