HSC Season 5 Week 13: Jr. Pac-Man

[Ze_ro]

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

 

I may be young, but I'm no baby! I'm a star just like my folks, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man. And I've got twice their energy! Come play with me! We'll race around giant playgrounds. We'll chase down magic candy and run from ghostly bullies who'll tickle me to death if they catch me. My playgrounds are full of challenging mazes with corners and alleys to hide in. I run faster than a speeding roller skate, ducking behind barriers, dodging those mean bullies. I can even race from one side of a playground to the other. That's a lot of ground to cover! But I've got to play a lot harder than my folks to live up to the Pac-Man family name. That's why this is a whole new game!

 

 

Game Information

• Game Name: Jr. Pac-Man
  
• Released By: Atari, 1988
  
• Left Difficulty: N/A
  
• Right Difficulty: N/A
  
• Game Mode: Game 1 - Toy Candy - Four Ghosts
  
• Chosen By: midnight magicman
  

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, Dec 12th at 1:00 AM (CST).

 

If you want to suggest a game for future weeks, please send me a private message and let me know! I will add your game to the list. One one game per person will be kept on the list, so you will not be able to suggest a game until your first game is played! (Please note that due to time constraints, I very rarely reply to private messages... but I do read them all!)

 

Anyone can play! Just post a score and I'll add you to the list! Please read the Rules & Information if you haven't already done so!

 

Current High Scores

1. 52,620 (toymailman) [+11]
   
2. 49,940 (Deteacher) [+10]
   
3. 47,430 (Dauber) [+9]
   
4. 36,750 (Christophero Sly) [+8]
   
5. 35,970 (shadow460) [+7]
   
6. 35,670 (midnight magicman) [+6]
   
7. 34,430 (phaxda) [+5]
   
8. 28,450 (Recycled) [+4]
   
9. 28,280 (Captain Beard) [+3]
   
10. 27,560 (Kurt_Woloch) [+2]
    
11. 27,510 (keilbaca) [+1]
    
12. 25,810 (atari2600land) [+1]
    
13. 25,290 (Impaler_26) [+1]
    
14. 21,570 (theKLT) [+1]
    
15. 17,400 (theking21083) [+1]
    
16. 9700 (lucifershalo) [+1]
    
17. 8100 (PressureCooker2600) [+1]
    
18. 7510 (Butterwasp) [+1]
    

Best Tips

• Deteacher [+2]
  

Bounties and Challenges

• None
  

TwinGalaxies Top 3

(Game 1, Difficulty B)

• 1,794,250 (Robert Macauley) (PAL version)
  
• 252,010 (Dustin Hubbard)
  
• 38,080 (Carlos Marrero)
  

Current Standings

 

(Note: These scores reflect the standing as of the beginning of this week, and do not include points scored from this game.)

1. Deteacher [124]
2. toymailman [104]
3. keilbaca [89]
4. Pressurecooker2600 [77]
5. theking21083 [69]
6. rheffera [57]
7. Kurt_Woloch [46]
8. Recycled [40]
9. SpiceWare [39]
10. Impaler_26 [37]
11. DarthCalvin [36]
12. Blackjack [35]
13. homerwannabee [32]
14. Captain Beard [31]
15. Nathan Strum [29]
16. Rom Hunter [23]
17. shadow460 [16]
18. Butterwasp [16]
19. LarcenTyler [14]

• midnight magicman [13]
• Christophero Sly [13]
• godzillajoe [11]
• theKLT [10]
• Artlover [9]
• keitaro [7]
• Nognir [5]
• ed1475 [4]
• Goochman [3]
• phaxda [3]
• atari2600land [3]
• Crazy Climber [2]
• gospeedde [2]
• Phantom [2]
• Snider-man [2]
• doctorclu [1]
• RJ [1]
• KaeruYojimbo [1]

Scoring Points in Jr. Pac-Man

• First ghost - 200 points
  
• Second ghost - 400 points
  
• Third ghost - 800 points
  
• Fourth ghost - 1600 points
  
• Tricycle - 100 points
  
• Kite - 200 points
  
• Drum - 500 points
  
• Balloon - 700 points
  
• Train - 1000 points
  
• Kitty - 2000 points
  
• Root beer - 5000 points
  
• Dot - 10 points
  
• Dot touched by toy candy - 50 points
  
• Energy pill - 50 points
  
• At 15,000 points, you earn a bonus turn.
  

Hints and Tips

As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available. Here are the hints it provides:

 

* Don't let Jr. Pac-Man eat the power pills too early. Wait until the bullies gain on him, then have him tease them toward a pill, quickly gobble it, and immediately chase them.

 

* Have Junior eat as many dots as he can before he east the power pills. This gives him more clear paths for chasing bullies.

 

* Dots worth ten points slow Jr. Pac-Man down. Dots worth 50 points slow him down even more. So, when the bullies close in, have Junior dash into a clear path to outrun them.

 

* Jr. Pac-Man turns corners faster than the ghost bullies. When the bullies are closing in, have him make lots of direction changes to outrun them.

 

* Get to know the bullies' personalities. Each one is unique, and you can use that fact to your advantage.

 

* Allow the toy candies to transform as many dots as possible into 50-point dots. But have Junior eat the candies before they destroy the power pills.

 

* Pay attention to game sounds, such as the tromping sound of toy candies. They'll clue you to what's happening in parts of the maze you can't see.

It's critical to do well on the first board. IMO, it's the hardest of the first three. If you can pass that first board with 15k and the extra life, you stand a good chance of scoring 35k or more.

1. The trickiest bully is the purple one. He won't really follow you unless he's really close to you. Otherwise, he'll try to out-maneuver you and cut you off at the pass. He works in conjunction with the red bully, who will chase you down. The 2 of them make a pretty good team, so watch out when they start working together.

 

2. The green and orange bullies don't really seem to follow much of a pattern (that I've noticed, anyway.) They just happen to be in the right place at the right time to make your life difficult. Keep an eye on them, obviously, but focus most of your attention on red and purple.

 

Once you get past the first board, the 2nd one is more forgiving. There aren't many paths for the purple bully to head you off, so as long as you play smart, you should be able to get through it pretty easily. Don't relax too much because board 3 is a tough one too!

 

--Zero

[theking21083]

I got Pac-Man fever and it's driving me crazy!

[PressureCooker2600]

Sweet.....a chance to play Jr. Pac-Man.

 

I'll have to dust off my cart because I haven't played it in over a year.

[Christophero Sly]

I remember this one from a few of seasons ago. Frustratingly hard, but extremely fun. It's murder on joysticks too.

 

It's critical to do well on the first board. IMO, it's the hardest of the first three. If you can pass that first board with 15k and the extra life, you stand a good chance of scoring 35k or more.

Edited December 5, 2007 by Christophero Sly

[Recycled]

Yea, that first board is murder. It's hard as heck not losing 2 lives before clearing it.

 

I believe I've only made it to the fourth board in this game. I find the third screen most fun.

[Kurt_Woloch]

I got Pac-Man fever and it's driving me crazy!

 

Yes, I've got that record too. Please contact me if you need a Karaoke version of it...

 

And now for the first score submission...

 

27560

 

[Christophero Sly]

28,070

[theking21083]

For my first attemt 17,400.

[Deteacher]

Here's my first submission: 39,990!

 

After many restarts, I finally made it through the first board with only losing 1 life. I cleared the second board without losing any lives and almost finished the 3rd board.

 

Here are a couple of tips:

 

1. The trickiest bully is the purple one. He won't really follow you unless he's really close to you. Otherwise, he'll try to out-maneuver you and cut you off at the pass. He works in conjunction with the red bully, who will chase you down. The 2 of them make a pretty good team, so watch out when they start working together.

 

2. The green and orange bullies don't really seem to follow much of a pattern (that I've noticed, anyway.) They just happen to be in the right place at the right time to make your life difficult. Keep an eye on them, obviously, but focus most of your attention on red and purple.

 

Once you get past the first board, the 2nd one is more forgiving. There aren't many paths for the purple bully to head you off, so as long as you play smart, you should be able to get through it pretty easily. Don't relax too much because board 3 is a tough one too!

 

Great game this week. I can't wait to get home from work so I can play some more!

[Recycled]

28450

[+atari2600land]

My best so far: 25,810. I'll be playing this some more. Don't know if I'll top that, though.

[lucifershalo]

after 3 games 9,700

and never played that game before

[toymailman]

Here's my first submission for the week. My favorite Pac-Man game on the 2600!

 

37,570

 

[toymailman]

Has anyone ever submitted a score to Twin Galaxies? After I did well in the HSC Bank Heist week, I ended up recording a session and sent it in (following what the website said to do, forms etc.). I figured a World Record certificate would be really cool to add to my 2600 collection. However, it has been about six weeks and not a peep. Anyone have an idea of how long it takes?

[Deteacher]

49,940!

 

I actually cleared the first board without losing a life. I only lost 1 life on the second board. I got to the 4th board with only 1 life left. I decided to throw strategy out the window and just make a mad dash for as many points as possible. It gave me a good look at the board, so next time I can work on a strategy.

[Dauber]

Here's a first attempt...man, I forgot how hard this game is!

 

[PressureCooker2600]

Is the difficulty level we are playing on the same as the default difficulty....the one when you boot up the game?

[Deteacher]

Yes, the game that boots up is the correct game to play. Starts with the first board (tricycle) and 4 ghosts.

[PressureCooker2600]

Yes, the game that boots up is the correct game to play. Starts with the first board (tricycle) and 4 ghosts.

 

Crap.....figures.

 

First score....8,100

 

They shoulda named this game 'Sheer Brutality'

[toymailman]

A little better than before, but not quite enough to catch anyone.

 

42,970

 

[Impaler_26]

11,730.

[phaxda]

I have never played this before, but I have 10,290 to start off with.

 

Kinda like this game but it IS hard.

[Impaler_26]

17,670.

[phaxda]

OK, I think I am done. I was playing this all weekend. Great game. 33,980.

 

[Deteacher]

Man, this game really does kick your butt. I had a great game earlier. I scored almost 21K on the first board and only lost one life. I thought to myself "I'm gonna blow my high score away this time!" I can usually clear the 2nd board withoutl losing a life, so I thought I was on easy street. Well, I blew all 3 of my remaining lives on the 2nd board and finished with a measly 29K.

 

I have a question for you all. Sometimes, I'll start up a game and there will be a couple of 50pt dots scattered randomly about the maze. Other times, there will be dots that look like equal signs (=) which can't be eaten. Still, other times, I'll finish a board without eating all the dots. This hasn't happened very many times, but more than once. Has this happened to anyone else? I should say that I'm playing this on my Kroko cart, so I don't know if I have a bad ROM or not. Has anyone experienced this on an actual cart? What about others using the Kroko/Emu? Just curious.