Ah, the joys of points runs on NES platformers.

yeah i dont care either way this is really cool and im sure requires a lot of time to run this by bimmy so thanks man!!!

im not playing to win or anything i just like that this forces me to pull an old classic out that i may not think to play. Also i definetely wont be trying to point grind as i would expect someone shortly will post 9,999,999 as this could easily be attainable in about 12 hours. I just personally play these for the fun and that seems like a total bore chore snore

I am not convinced that you can get much more than 2 million, based on my earlier score analysis. (Unless you tirelessly grind lives on that head in Stage 5, then sure, 9,999,999 would be feasible)

Okay, it is getting late and Bimmy hasn't logged, so I'll do the call. the easiest solution is clearly to make this a 1-life only contest. You can do whatever you want, if you lose a life it is over.

Good?

Works for me, but darn, I was really looking forward to an extreme point farming run tonight!!!!! =P

Haha, this should then shorten your run for tonight.

You're the next in command after bimmy,so whatever you say goes.

Sounds good!

EDIT:  Removed old score of 437,290

55,040

First time ever playing this one, pretty cool game. 

I'm not convinced that 500k would be possible without the extra 10k from farming the 1-up head in Stage 5.

On your 437k run, how much time did you have left at the end of levels?  I only had an extra 10-20 seconds, here and there, on my 400k run.  I would think 437k was already cutting it pretty close.

I admit that I might have been too optimistic on 500K.  I don't remember exactly but there were several levels that I had significant time left, 50 seconds or more.  One level I ended at something like 120 because I forgot there were no more enemies, haha.  All that is to say there is definitely room for improvement, especially if I can determine the best grinding spots and stretch out the time as best as I can.  Maybe not 500K but 470K? 480K?

I'm already extremely impressed with how much you 1-upped my 400k.  I'm interested to see what a 1-life max is on this game, for sure.

I know I'm losing upwards of 1000 pts per stage/boss in energy bonuses (1500 max is possible), but I'm securing the full 3000 pts per stage/boss on chip bonuses consistently.


EDIT:  just pulled a 441k... I saw a potential for MAYBE 3 - 5k worth of energy bonuses that I gave up to damage and potentially another 15k total in missed grinding based on time.    

I am guessing your levels where you finished with so much spare time were somewhere in stages 4 or 5 where the grinding is relatively inefficient compared to stages 1 and stages 3.

This is a fun game. I'll have to put a few more runs in before I submit my score. My goal is to get to level 4 without dying.

ok ok ok you got me i couldnt resist trying a one life grind haha. Not very good and i wont have a chance to improve but i updated pics and score on first page 407,120 as previously posted man if someone could hit 450 that would be legendary. I probably had 30 seconds left on each level average so def room for improvement but 450k would be massive

Have a nice weekend gang!

I'm almost certain that 450k is possible, but I really can't imagine much more than that on one life unless there is a more efficient grind spot that I missed in one of the later levels.

178,160

Not sure how much better I can get at this point. Had I had not screwed up and fell back down a few times,I would have made it to the boss. That long chasm on the right with the teeth enemies around it who are waiting to knock you into it.....pretty douchey by the programmers.

Once you get the gist of the end-level platforming on Stage 3, the rest of the game is actually really easy by comparison. (there is one part of Stage 5-1 that takes some getting used to, but it's not nearly as bad as the end of Stage 3)

EDIT: (assuming you save enough chips to defeat the Stage 4 boss and the final form of the Stage 6 boss)

I'll add to that that 5-2 is a real pain too ... that level takes some time to practice.

I've got time tonight to get a few runs in. I'm hoping I can put in a good score for everyone. =)

Once I had mastered Stage 3, I honestly thought 5-2 was a breeze.

There is one part toward the end where you have to jump across the conveyors (where the big block of ice is on the left-hand side), and the first time I got there I kept getting dumped back down a level to the monkey-bars.  But it really has nothing on the low-overhead jumps of Stage 3.

514,470

I did it.

That's a 1-life no death run.

Here is my score breakdown at the end of each stage on this run because I know Arch will ask me for it:

Stage 1 - 75,970
Stage 2 - 127,910
Stage 3 - 229,410
Stage 4 - 293,720
Stage 5 - 369,230

Believe it or not, there is room for more points here as well.  I did really well on 1, 3, and 4 but left 30-50 on the clock in 2-1, 5-1, and 5-2.  I think 520K or maybe even 525K is possible but that's might be about the max on one life.

Since my picture is crap I posted another picture during the lives-to-points transition that is much clearer.

^Freaking retarded. Amazing score Arn!

42290

Honestly if anybody else had posted a score over 500k I would have called bullshit... and I still have a hard time believing it, since I can't see how you get that many points out of 2-1 with that much time on the clock.  (I have reached the second boss with 101k before, but that fight isn't worth 20k+)

That is a huge pull out of stage 3, as well.

I am sure I will have to be content with second place on this once because I just don't see how it was possible to get that far north of 450k, given that I timed the levels and had a pretty good idea about where to point press for exactly how long.


I am seriously impressed and if you don't detail your exact strategy post-mortem, I will have to reach through the internet and punch you in the nose.

ps I appreciate the benchmarks, I will have to see how close I can get.  I am within 7k on level 1, might be off between 7 and 10k on the rest of them, as well.

EDIT TO ADD:

So I am down to being off pace by by 5k exactly, on Stage 1.  (only had 1 second remaining, though, so this must mean I'm just using the wrong point-pressing location)

Pretty sure I am on-pace for Stage 2, based on the score differential.

Stage 3 I screwed up big-time... I must have miscalculated the "extra" time available in the level, since I ended that stage with 30 seconds left! (the other 2 I pulled it out at 1 second remaining), so I left a ton on the table, there.

Have to pause it for a couple hours to run some errands, but I'll see how I'm pacing on the other levels, currently.
Based on the point-pressing spot I use in Stage 4, I am confident I can get that one to within a couple seconds of dead, but I'll need to reference my speed-run times for Stage 5, since both of those locations are a decent distance from the finish line, with plenty of hazardous platforming to kill you if you miscalculate!



2nd EDIT:

Took a couple of tries, but I matched the 75k+ in Stage 1.  I think there is room for another 1k, on that stage, but probably not much more than that.

Impressed as hell with your Stage 2 score, though, since I came up 5k short on that one.  Probably  picking the wrong guy to point-press against.

Kept up on Stage 3, but Stage 4 we must have picked different spots because that is where the gap got wider (though I thought I really had an efficient one).

Stage 5, I think I actually did a little better, and was pacing for even better than I did, since I padded more time than I thought (which was fortunate, because one of those claw-throwing assholes knocked me halfway back down the level AFTER I had point-pressed, so time was super-tight)

Ended up just shy of 500k.


Based on the places I out-paced you slightly, I would agree that you could probably stretch it to 525k with the right run.

Lol, well all will be revealed at the postmortem. I don't remember all of my time markers as far as when I left my grinding spots, but of course I know the grinding spots I used and I'll share them and as much strategy surrounding them as I can describe.

I would like to try to take my score even further but I don't think I'm going to have any more time for the contest.