DrMooCowz

1720 I didn't really really figure it out and also what I get for waiting for the last 2 hours before submission.

@Vocelli I think the 3 bonus points between Skippy and I are swapped.

I shall commit again! Feel free to send me an UNfriendly reminder if I forget to send details by the deadline. This has been a hectic 2 months for me.

This is amazing information! I wish I had more time to get a more "perfect" run, but this was maybe my 6th attempt and got 20 pieces of candy on this particular run. Getting the arrows to line up seems very random for a "perfect run", but I can see someone doing it. Wish I could've done more "back and forth" this week, Skippy, but time, life, all that stuff. If you beat me after this, congrats! 22834!

@Vocelli I forgot to add a 0 to my score originally, my fault! Will need to be corrected.

Only chance I have to play these during this span. Past month hasn't been time/energy friendly to put in the effort I'd like for this! I did like Venture Reloaded big time compared to the original! Pengu: 44700 Venture Reloaded: 172800 Crazy Balloon: 8275

@Vocelli my score is written incorrectly (41520 instead of 51520), but doesn't change the standings either way 👍

Beamrider! Been a bit since I got to continue this, but here we are! The manual disagrees with what's listed in the Activision patch page listed in the original post. The manual states you need a score of 40,000 and get to Sector 14, so that's the goal I set. This game also jumped in line without the wheel, because it also happened to be the game for the 2600 High Score Club. 🙂 This game is so fun and wish I had more time to do the high score attempts. Everything looks great in it and it ramps up the difficulty in a nice, slow way. Also, my love of shoot'em ups makes this super fun for me, too. Unfortunately (maybe?) I knocked this out in 1 attempt, which is great for the challenge, but sadly meant I didn't play this as much I would've liked! I still had the Pitfall Perfect Game hovering over me. Goal: 40,000 & Sector 14 Final Score: 41,520 & Sector 19 Date Completed: 2022-09-25 Time: 20m (1 attempt) Next Game: TBD

Beamrider: 41520 This also happened to double-up for the Activision Patch Challenge I've been doing. 🙂

Dodge'em: 344 I'll have a Beamrider score before the deadline tonight.

@Vocelli - My Combat score got missed.

Probably just some participation points this week for me, unfortunately. Battlezone: 51000 Combat: 35

I was going to add that I thought I had the brilliant idea of using the Track & Field controller for Midnight Magic since it is left/right/fire only. Great in theory until you have to press down to pull back the plunger 😄

Part 1 (Part 2, to be continued) Pitfall! The classic! When you talk to non-Atari enthusiasts, this is usually one of the games they mention. And for good reason! It's fun! 255 screens, according to the manual (!!) and lots of treasure to find! In fact, the manual says if you collect all the treasure, you will have a score of 112,000 points! It also mentions, a perfect score with no errors (deaths might be ok) is 114,000. I'm contemplating going for the perfect score (aka the Part 2, to be continued). But, for now, let's just get the patch! I was not really expecting the patch score of 20,000 to be a problem and it wasn't! I do know from previous experience that it is easier to go left than right with the barrels moving at the same pace as Harry. First attempt, no problem and just played the full 20 minutes to get a grasp on what a perfect score might be like to get! Goal: 20,000 Final Score: 85,939 Date Completed: 2022-08-28 Time: 20m (1 attempt) Next Game: TBD or perfect score attempts!

Enduro! This is a game I picked up later in life, but it's a great one! I definitely would have liked this as a kid! It's so fun to go maximum speed and dodge cars for any length of time. Gives you that white knuckle feel and the adrenaline rush (similar to dodging tight bullets in shmups for me). After Sky Jinks, I played the 4 games available for the 2600 high score club, then decided to get back to patch progress. I have played this in the high score club in recent years, so this might be a bit unfair to use this as a metric if you're coming into this cold. A minor point of contention, the way I interpreted the wording in the manual was to to get past day 5 to earn the patch. The trophy on the screen definitely appears once you get to day 5 (aka completing 4 days). My first attempt, I fell 11 cars short of completing day 5. Even though that would be good enough to get the patch in the mail, I decided I wanted to complete 5 days as a bonus goal/reassurance. And that's exactly what happened on attempt #2! Goal: Endure for 5 days / Bonus: Complete 5 days Final Score: Got to day 8, fell 60 cars short, 1411.6 on the odometer Date Completed: 2022-08-28 Time: 51m (2 attempts, and just now realizing how long I played the game on those attempts! Time flies!) Next Game: Pitfall!

Sky Jinks! I think I got this game as either a birthday or xmas present when I was a kid. At the time, I either wasn't aware of the Activision patches or didn't care. I generally just played the various game modes to see if I could clear the course without missing a pylon. Fast forward to today, I had the goal in mind and read the clarification in the manual of getting less than 37 seconds and not missing any pylons. First attempt was more about trying to remember how things work. Which side of the pylon do you fly, speeding up, slowing down. Took a couple games to get the controls down. Then after that, it really did not take long to get successful game to earn the patch! Goal: < 37.0 seconds and no missed pylons Final Score: 36.44 seconds and no missed pylons Date Completed: 2022-08-28 Time: 11m (7 attempts) Next Game: Enduro

First crack at these games: Midnight Magic (1 ball challenge) : 48650 - I remember getting this one at a Big Lots for $1 several years ago! Mr. Do : 17450 - I'd rather be playing Dig Dug. Off the Wall : 13802 - This one grew on me! The magnet ball power up seems overpowered!

improvement! 53100

Oink! The name definitely grabs my attention. This is a cartridge I got much later in life and "new-ish" to me, but have played it before. A cool concept on making a game based on the Three Little Pigs. I laughed a bit at the wolf being named Bigelow B. Wolf! Was that a real from the fairy tale? I kinda doubt it, but made me question it for sure and want it to be true. The pace in this one is truly constant and scary at the same time. Every time Bigelow's breath hits, you immediately think, "Did he get me!?". This happens several times during a normal play and just keep moving on as fast as you can. Slowing down at all just makes surviving even more difficult. So many close calls with one tiny brick (sometimes the one I just put down) saving you from defeat. My previous experience with the game did not make it too bad for me and knocked it out quickly, allowing me to become an Honorary Oinker! Goal: 25,000 Final Score: 59,536 Date Completed: 2022-08-21 Time: 21m (2 attempts) Next Game: Sky Jinks

Plaque Attack! What a concept for a game! Took some time to look at the box and manual and the art in it is great and adds to the oddity of the theme! I really like this game! The big, chonky teeth. The variety of the food. The frantic pace. I was a bit disappointed I knocked this out on the first try since I wanted to play it some more! Goal: 35,000 Final Score: 41,210 Date Completed: 2022-08-21 Time: 7m (1 attempt) Next Game: Oink!

Crackpots! I always liked this one when I was a kid. Plenty of experience playing this one over the years, but was that enough get the score needed for the patch? I started quite a bit better than I was expecting, getting in the low 60,000 range. A lot spamming pots in the middle while "on the way" to the next became very important for getting over the 75,000 threshold. It ended up being only 3 attempts before getting the score posted below. This definitely was not a pushover and I feel the bar was set about right for being a challenge and not too easy. Goal: 75,000 Final Score: 79,960 Date Completed: 2022-08-21 Time: 35m (3 attempts) Next Game: Plaque Attack

Q*Bert: 50325 Carnival: Rollage. Right after the S Kitchen appears, the score starts back over at 0. That was my 2nd game of Carnival and I didn't really find it that difficult? I focused on the pipes and saved the [ 8 ] things for when they have more value to add to the bar at the bottom. I guess I just don't miss much either? I'm a little surprised I killed this so easily after reading others' comments here.

improvement: 66380

Grand Prix! I was dreading this one a bit. I remember from past attempts at this one, it felt like you could NOT make a mistake to have any chance to beat the times in the manual on this one. Was that the case this time? Not 100% true, but it definitely was a factor! Even though the manual indicated you only needed to beat one of the game modes to earn the patch, I opted to do all 4 game modes! Moois Hamiliton did not fear the challenge! Game 1 Watkins Glen <= 0:35 The literal first attempt of game 1, I said something like, "I'm not really trying, just doing a sound test to see if the game volume is ok". Then it turned into "ok, I am actually trying". Then 33.58 seconds later, boom, Game 1 patch earned! Off to a great start and technically could have been the end of the challenge for Grand Prix! Game 2 Brands Hatch <= 1:00 This one was a VERY different story compared to Game 1. This one took a lot of trial and error (so much error) memorization and execution to get it right. You are allowed 1, maybe 2 mistakes on this one before the time is out of reach. Game 2 easily took the bulk of the time for this challenge. On attempt #117, victory was finally achieved with a 59.32 time! Game 3 Le Mans <= 1:30 Game 3 showed some signs of "having lanes where you don't need to move for a while" and proved to make this one easier compared to Game 2. It still was not a pushover by any means. In "section 3" aka after bridge 2, it took a very long time to figure out how to slow down and properly navigate the 4 car wide barricade that it likes to do on this one. "Only" 55 attempts on this before getting 1:28.95! Game 4 Monoco <= 2:30 Lastly, was debating skipping this to get some scores in on Vanguard for the 2600 High Score Club or give this one a few shots before... switching gears to Vanguard. As it turns out, the decision to try this one was the correct one! I went full speed not knowing how any of this would play out. Definitely a lot of mistakes, but the high mark proved to be helpful and nailed this on the first try at 2:18.47! And with that, all 4 game modes were defeated and the patched earned now matter how you sliced it! I definitely like this game way more as an adult compared to how I did as a kid. If you're ok with lots of failure in your gaming, this can be satisfying to conquer the times listed in the manual and can see the appeal to the people trying to get the lowest times possible. Goal: Defeat all 4 game mode times (Game 1 - 0:35, Game 2 - 1:00, Game 3 - 1:30, Game 4 - 2:30) Final Score: All 4 modes defeated (Game 1 - 0:33.58 [1 attempt], Game 2 - 0:59.32 [119 attempts], Game 3 - 1:28.95 [55 attempts], Game 4 - 2:18.47 [1 attempt]) Date Completed: 2022-08-14 Time: 3h 31m Next Game: Crackpots

Early attempts here! 48570