58 replies to this topic

[JacobZu7zu7]

102,869

The last min, is pretty nail bitting.

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[thegoldenband]

JacobZu7zu7, on Sat May 21, 2011 1:04 PM, said:

The last min, is pretty nail bitting.

Seldom have I been as stressed out by a game as I was during the last 2-3 minutes of the "agony" and "ecstasy" runs posted above. I guess completing Marble Madness is almost as stressful once you get to the last part, but that game goes by so much quicker and doesn't require perfection per se. In Pitfall you have to push hard for 20 minutes, and there's no chance a magic wand will come along to save your neck!

BTW I found that I was able to save some time by really pushing hard in the first 12 screens, right before you go underground for the first time (on the route posted above). On the fifth screen or so, with three rolling logs and three holes, you can jump onto the ladder between the first and second logs, then immediately jump back off. If you time it just right, you'll make a vine on the next screen that you normally wouldn't quite get, and you can reach the bottom of the first tunnel by 19:04. If you time it wrong, you'll get nailed by a log, but since it's so close to the start it's always worth trying.

With that time in hand, if you push hard through the next 10 overworld screens (starting with the four "running with the logs" screens), then when you come out of tunnel #2, you'll have a little bit of extra time. You then have to backtrack two to the right to grab a ring that's on the far side of a disappearing tarpit. It's a risky play, but if you're fast enough, you can make it across without having to wait, as long as you jump at exactly the right moment. Pull it off, and you'll be about 10-12 seconds ahead of schedule. I used to reach the ring at 16:58 or so IIRC, but with this riskier method you can make it at 17:10.

I had some other benchmarks, but I'm already starting to forget them. I was totally shocked to finish with 45 seconds, though! I thought it'd be 10 seconds at best.

Oh, and make sure you watch out when you emerge from the last two tunnels -- in both cases, you get ambushed by rolling logs when you go right to the next screen, with no time to react. Always jump when entering a screen from the left.

Edited by thegoldenband, Sat May 21, 2011 1:51 PM.

[roadrunner]

It's hard to believe the same guy who did Slot Machine for the 2600 also did Pitfall.

[JacobZu7zu7]

roadrunner, on Sat May 21, 2011 2:00 PM, said:

It's hard to believe the same guy who did Slot Machine for the 2600 also did Pitfall.

Yeah... or later he did Laser Blast which was an 80's game and not based on a Slot Machine.


Pitfall was a massive Harry leap upwards I'd say.

[JacobZu7zu7]

thegoldenband, on Sat May 21, 2011 1:49 PM, said:

JacobZu7zu7, on Sat May 21, 2011 1:04 PM, said:

The last min, is pretty nail bitting.

Seldom have I been as stressed out by a game as I was during the last 2-3 minutes of the "agony" and "ecstasy" runs posted above. I guess completing Marble Madness is almost as stressful once you get to the last part, but that game goes by so much quicker and doesn't require perfection per se. In Pitfall you have to push hard for 20 minutes, and there's no chance a magic wand will come along to save your neck!

Very true... funny you mentioned Marble Madness, we both played that one in NES HSC, last year.



I got a great Marble run there, and won it on my 1st try. Though, you aced Pitfall now with Intellivision controls, that I think is a much harder task to master.


Marble Madness I got good, pretty quick when I bought it in the 90's. The key to the last level is to get a good roll, then hit the fire button to jump while rolling to the empty space blocking the path.

My link

Edited by JacobZu7zu7, Sat May 21, 2011 7:04 PM.

[roadrunner]

JacobZu7zu7, on Sat May 21, 2011 6:43 PM, said:

roadrunner, on Sat May 21, 2011 2:00 PM, said:

It's hard to believe the same guy who did Slot Machine for the 2600 also did Pitfall.

Yeah... or later he did Laser Blast which was an 80's game and not based on a Slot Machine.


Pitfall was a massive Harry leap upwards I'd say.

Yeah, i really didn't care for Laser Blast.
As great as Pitfall is, i love Fishing Derby.
David Crane really hit a home run with that one.

Edited by roadrunner, Sat May 21, 2011 8:34 PM.

[thegoldenband]

JacobZu7zu7, on Sat May 21, 2011 7:01 PM, said:

Very true... funny you mentioned Marble Madness, we both played that one in NES HSC, last year.

Hey, good catch! I'd forgotten about that -- I think I made a couple attempts to catch you, but didn't have any luck. I beat the NES version a long time ago, but I may well have used the 2-player cheat to do so.

JacobZu7zu7, on Sat May 21, 2011 7:01 PM, said:

I got a great Marble run there, and won it on my 1st try. Though, you aced Pitfall now with Intellivision controls, that I think is a much harder task to master.

Aww, thanks! Oddly enough I got pretty comfortable with Pitfall on the Inty, though it gets pretty tough on the thumbs...in one game I missed one of the side buttons, caught the skin on my thumb, and nearly injured myself!

Say, if you're a big Marble Madness fan and if you own a Genesis, you should consider picking up the Japanese port for the Mega Drive, made by Tengen. It's pricey/rare (and hasn't been dumped yet AFAIK), and you'll need a Game Genie or widened cart slot to play it, but it's a phenomenal port -- completely different from the US/EU release by Electronic Arts, and 100x better.

Edited by thegoldenband, Sat May 21, 2011 10:52 PM.

[JacobZu7zu7]

Welcome... quite impressed by 114,000! I think we all are.

I almost forgot NES contest too, but looking at your Marble Madness post made me remember it.

I'm pretty comfortable with Intv, Pitfall too... but getting a perfect score is another story. 100,000 mark is best I have ever done though on any version. (Using undeground passages now)

I tried Pitfall again, last night at 10PM 'till about 11... had 3 excellent games going but was too agressive jumping over crocks and swamps. Lost my spare lives

[cparsley]

The final scores I see from our little Harry expedition is:

thegoldenband 114,000
patbb 113,932
jacobZu7zu7 102,869
cparsley 101,778
1980gamer 90,597
ghsqb 85,762
cmart604 80,905
roadrunner 66,855
crade 59,282
atariron82 10,827

Congratulations to golden with the perfect game, and welcome to our newcomers to the HSC
As soon as the new head of the INTV HSC Game 4 will be ready (I've got the wheel of destiny ready if I'm taking this over)