30 replies to this topic

[Ze_ro]

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted.

It's dinnertime, and you're simply starving. What you would do for a nice hunk of cheese! A slice of old-fashioned Swiss would be nice, or, even better, a morsel of Camembert. Mmmmm.

Dreaming of cheese won't get you anywhere. You're going to have to earn your lunch. As a hungry but clever mouse, you'll have to chomp your way through a maze of corridors and doors, while avoiding starving cats who want nothing better than to eat you. But those feline fanatics aren't as crafty as you are. You can outrun them. You can confuse them by opening and shutting trapdoors. And, with a stash of bones in reserve, you can fool these furry menaces by turning into a cat-biting dog!

And the race is on!

Game Information

Game Name: Mouse Trap Released By: Coleco, Left Difficulty: A / Expert (Smart Cats) Right Difficulty: B / Novice (Slow Cats) Game Mode: Default Chosen By: Ze_ro Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday July 22nd at 1:00 AM (CST).

Current High Scores 9999 (Deteacher) [+11] 9999 (Atardi) [+11] 9999 (darthkur) [+11] 9999 (Phantom) [+11] 9995 (ChrisKoopa) [+10] 8448 (toymailman) [+9] 3358 (Animan) [+8] 2962 (shadow460) [+7] 2490 (roadrunner) [+6] 2081 (Mister VCS) [+5] 1844 (Kurt_Woloch) [+4] 1517 (aftermac) [+3] 1463 (flammingcowz) [+2] 827 (vjames) [+1] 706 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 383 (Wickeycolumbus) [+1] Best Tips Animan [+2] Challenges None yet TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B) 105,250 (David R Archey) 92,750 (Todd Rogers) 30,000 (Robert T Mruczek)

Current Standings toymailman [445] darthkur [325] Deteacher [319] aftermac [287] Kurt_Woloch [202] Impaler_26 [173] Mister VCS [122] DarthCalvin [117] SpiceWare [112] jjd [98] shadow460 [92] LarcenTyler [87] vjames [85] Atardi [66] sloth713 [63] Hornpipe2 [55] the 5th ghost [47] Nathan Strum [46] mcge0053 [44] doctorclu [38] Zoyx [35] SeaGtGruff [30] IHATETHEBEARS [27] Jess Ragan [26] theKLT [26] roadrunner [23] homerwannabee [22] Jred [20] LaserHawk [20] Spector [20] Shannon [19] chuckwalla [19] ChrisKoopa [19] Omegamatrix [19] ClassicGMR [18] iangamer [15] MrBeefy [14] LoneWolfSeth [12] Wickeycolumbus [12] Thomas Jentzsch [12] midnight magicman [11] vdub_bobby [11] ed1475 [10] Random Terrain [10] maf [9] TimsterAA [9] DtY [8] ballistik [8] godzillajoe [8] missioncontrol [8] LS_Dracon [7] BSA Starfire's girlfriend [7] RJ [6] mightymage [5] Dryerlint [5] lucifershalo [5] Blackjack [5] phaxda [5] Vectorman0 [4] vintagegamecrazy [4] mika [3] rasty [3] Trinity [2] joeypsp [2] rheffera [2] ratfink [2] 4Ks [1] Lendorien [1] Crazy Climber [1] Cafeman [1] Yar76 [1] Artlover [1] holgibo [1]

Scoring Points in Mouse Trap

Eating a cheese - 1 point Biting a cat - 10 points Clearing the maze - 100 points You get three mice at game start. Each time your score reaches a multiple of 500, you earn a bonus mouse.

Hints and Tips

The Manual

As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. The manual has some formatting issues, so you might also want to try checking out this other typed manual from the Atari release of the game. The manual doesn't provide any specific hints, unfortunately.

Animan

-This is no Pac-Man! It may have similar looks and concept, but it has several differences from the Dot Eating Hero we all know and love. Know the differences: A. There are not as many dots as in regular Pac-man, making it easier to get from level to level B. You have the ability to change some of the walls on the board. Holding down the Fire button changes the board. C. When you eat the Power Pellet..er...Bone, instead of turning into the dog instantly, it hold on to it for later use. You can hold on to as many as four. D. The cats don't always move. Some times they pace back and fourth. Use it to your advantage. E. The cats re spawn in each cage of there own. They don't all share the same re spawn zone in the center. Ones left, ones right, and ones bottom. -Save up a lot of bones until you reached max. Only use them when you need them. -Use the ability to change the board to your advantage. Use them as shortcuts, avoid the cats, or even trap the cats! -When you trap a cat in the center, be sure to have eaten up all the dots beforehand, then you wasted the effort, and he may even kill you! -Pay attention to what's around you, not where the cats are. This will help you A LOT!!!! -Most of all, don't be stupid.

darthkur

Actually there is a trick to not wasting dog bones. That frustrated me to no end as well. In fact it put me off of playing it a lot until this HSC round. When I want to transmorph into the dog I tap the button. To open the doors you need to hold the button down for a bit longer. There's a definite feel to it.

Deteacher

Here's my tip, which is kind of a "pattern" of sorts: When the new board comes up, it always comes up with the center area closed off. As the happy little tune plays, I hold down the fire button, which opens up the doors to the center area. When the action starts, I immediately clear the center area. Usually, one of the cats will follow me to the center. Just as I'm finishing up the 6 cheese bits in that area and am leaving, I hold the fire button in, closing the doors to the center and (usually) trapping one of the cats. Then, I only have 2 cats to deal with. Sometimes, I luck out and trap 2 cats in there. Then it's just a matter of using the dog bones to help clear the board with only 1 or 2 cats to deal with.

Phantom

Now for a tip from me, and the best tip I could give is the best controller to use in most games because I usually try until I find the one that seemingly works best on games that require timing or sharp moves and the best controller was this NES modded 7800 controller that I have pictured below. The 2nd best Controller I used was the gemeni as the button on that did what you wanted as well and I had no mis hits with that one either. Every 2600 controller I used was mis-hitting giving me dogs when I wanted to change layouts and sometimes just wasting dogs in bunches. These 2 controllers worked perfect for me. I only switched to the NES mod I had because I seen it out of the corner of my eye hiding on me between screens and was looking for it before I tried the gemeni so when I got about 4 Gs and died, I tried the NES next game and then flipped it.

--Zero

[roadrunner]

2,490

[LarcenTyler]

706

Oh, and nice avatar, roadrunner. Shemp was truly the best.

[Animan]

3,358.
Boy, this game sure is repetitive. Mainly because it's so easy. Pac-man was fun because it had a steep difficulty curve, making you want to come back for more. I never liked this game that much, despite having new ideas from the standard maze game. Although, i do like the board game of the same name.

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Edited by Animan, Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:58 AM.

[Animan]

Now for some tips:

-This is no Pac-Man! It may have similar looks and concept, but it has several differences from the Dot Eating Hero we all know and love. Know the differences:
A. There are not as many dots as in regular Pac-man, making it easier to get from level to level
B. You have the ability to change some of the walls on the board. Holding down the Fire button changes the board.
C. When you eat the Power Pellet..er...Bone, instead of turning into the dog instantly, it hold on to it for later use. You can hold on to as many as four.
D. The cats don't always move. Some times they pace back and fourth. Use it to your advantage.
E. The cats re spawn in each cage of there own. They don't all share the same re spawn zone in the center. Ones left, ones right, and ones bottom.
Scoring:
-Eat a piece of cheese (the pellet).......1
-Eat a cat........................................10
-Complete a board.........................100 (and a free life!)

-Save up a lot of bones until you reached max. Only use them when you need them.
-Use the ability to change the board to your advantage. Use them as shortcuts, avoid the cats, or even trap the cats!
-When you trap a cat in the center, be sure to have eaten up all the dots beforehand, then you wasted the effort, and he may even kill you!
-Pay attention to what's around you, not where the cats are. This will help you A LOT!!!!

-Most of all, don't be stupid.

Edited by Animan, Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:19 PM.

[Deteacher]

What a way to come back into the HSC...rolled it. First pic is at 9,999 and the next is the score back to 0.

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[shadow460]

895, participation point.

[flammingcowz]

1463

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[Wickeycolumbus]

383

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[Atardi]

score : 9999

[Mister VCS]

1,537

This game is a good maze game - but should it be called Mouse Trap?

This game shines on the Colecovision - and the Atari 2600 port could be better...

[ChrisKoopa]

9995
This game is so frustrating. I had to play it bunch of times because each time i got so into the game i forgot the score ends at 9999

Thanks for the tips Animan

Edited by ChrisKoopa, Sun Jul 19, 2009 3:46 PM.

[toymailman]

Got sooo close to the rollover point.

8,448

[Phantom]

OK so we are supposed to play with the difficulty of expert?
That is fine I just wanna make sure I am doing it right because default it says too in the HSC rules above. Thanks much

[darthkur]

2,496

[vjames]

827

Ok, I'm not accusing anyone of cheating... but... FYI... is everyone aware that (on stella) even though you set you left difficulty to "A" and right difficulty to "B" that when you close and re run this game both difficulty switches revert to "B"? I could barely get 500 points and came back after a few days and was amazed when I hit 4k with no problem. I got to wondering if the switches reset themselves so I reset the difficulty switches appropriately and (with 4 extra lives and 4 bones) couldn't even clear the screen. Then I checked under game properties and found the both switches default to "B".

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[Phantom]

vjames, on Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:12 AM, said:

827

Ok, I'm not accusing anyone of cheating... but... FYI... is everyone aware that (on stella) even though you set you left difficulty to "A" and right difficulty to "B" that when you close and re run this game both difficulty switches revert to "B"? I could barely get 500 points and came back after a few days and was amazed when I hit 4k with no problem. I got to wondering if the switches reset themselves so I reset the difficulty switches appropriately and (with 4 extra lives and 4 bones) couldn't even clear the screen. Then I checked under game properties and found the both switches default to "B".

Which again leads me to ask what settings for certain?
A on the 1 port and B on the 2nd port?
How is that default? Just curious and I want my score to count.
I love this game BTW and Im surprised many dont seem to care for it.
Yea the score only going to 9999 sucks but other than that I always have liked this game.
Its better on the CV for certain but still a decent game on the 2600.
Pics to come later, cheers

[Kurt_Woloch]

OK, here's my best so far... 1844.

[Phantom]

2 questions...
Does it matter that I am playing it on a 7800 and is the 1st port slider go to the left as A and the 2nd Port to the right and that would be B? I always forget with the damn 7800 because they are not labeled A or B, atleast mine is not, it is just blank so if anyone knows for sure, please let me know.

And more importantly, is their a trick so not to waste the dog bones?
I haven't played the 2600 version in awhile but this is driving me batty.
When I wanna switch the layout, I inevitably use dog bones and extra useless dog bones when I try to switch the layout. I have tried pushing against the door before pushing the button and that seems to work only sometimes. I have tried holding the Stick up, I have tried holding the joystick down etc, and no difference. Is there any trick so don't waste the Dog Bones? Thanks for any tips.

593 for my 1st High total

[darthkur]

9,999

I finally got the hang of it so I get to join the "I flipped it"club.

Phantom, on Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:00 PM, said:

And more importantly, is their a trick so not to waste the dog bones?
I haven't played the 2600 version in awhile but this is driving me batty.
When I wanna switch the layout, I inevitably use dog bones and extra useless dog bones when I try to switch the layout. I have tried pushing against the door before pushing the button and that seems to work only sometimes. I have tried holding the Stick up, I have tried holding the joystick down etc, and no difference. Is there any trick so don't waste the Dog Bones? Thanks for any tips.

Actually there is a trick to it. That frustrated me to no end as well. In fact it put me off of playing it a lot until this HSC round. When I want to transmorph into the dog I tap the button. To open the doors you need to hold the button down for a bit longer. There's a definite feel to it.

[Phantom]

Quote

Actually there is a trick to it. That frustrated me to no end as well. In fact it put me off of playing it a lot until this HSC round. When I want to transmorph into the dog I tap the button. To open the doors you need to hold the button down for a bit longer. There's a definite feel to it.

Thanks that helped and I should get better now. Been awhile since I played this one.
826 is my new high, No pic though

[shadow460]

2962 today.

[Animan]

Man, my tips are making people more stronger than i am. "Ya'll have done well, my students."

[Deteacher]

Here's my tip, which is kind of a "pattern" of sorts:

When the new board comes up, it always comes up with the center area closed off. As the happy little tune plays, I hold down the fire button, which opens up the doors to the center area. When the action starts, I immediately clear the center area. Usually, one of the cats will follow me to the center. Just as I'm finishing up the 6 cheese bits in that area and am leaving, I hold the fire button in, closing the doors to the center and (usually) trapping one of the cats. Then, I only have 2 cats to deal with. Sometimes, I luck out and trap 2 cats in there. Then it's just a matter of using the dog bones to help clear the board with only 1 or 2 cats to deal with.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

[ChrisKoopa]

Deteacher, on Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:10 AM, said:

When the new board comes up, it always comes up with the center area closed off. As the happy little tune plays, I hold down the fire button, which opens up the doors to the center area. When the action starts, I immediately clear the center area. Usually, one of the cats will follow me to the center. Just as I'm finishing up the 6 cheese bits in that area and am leaving, I hold the fire button in, closing the doors to the center and (usually) trapping one of the cats.

Ill make and upload (youtube) a video of my pattern tonight its very similar to yours and very effective


EDIT: sorry for the late upload...bad day at work yesterday. i dont think this matters anymore but heres the video for my pattern

Edited by ChrisKoopa, Wed Jul 22, 2009 11:29 AM.