Does Kool-Aid Man Have An Ending?

[nosweargamer]

The manual says the game has 13 levels (although you can use the difficulty options to skip some of the earlier levels).

Does anyone know what happens if you beat level 13? Is there an ending? Does it loop? Does it just end showing your final score?

 

I can't even get to level 10 myself, and no one I know has been able to even reach the 13th level.

[Eric7100]

It ends by having Kool-Aid Man break through your wall, saying "Oh yeah..."

[m-crew]

It ends by having Kool-Aid Man break through your wall, saying "Oh yeah..."

lmao !!! Good one Eric..

[zzip]

It ends by having Kool-Aid Man break through your wall, saying "Oh yeah..."

This needs to be in the VR remake!

[freewheel]

It ends by having Kool-Aid Man break through your wall, saying "Oh yeah..."

 

Like this? (go to 4:54).

 

https://youtu.be/TBqyjl1gkVw

 

Direct link

[Eric7100]

Exactly!

[mr_me]

That's an odd video. Intellivision koolaid man normally has smooth scrolling, not what you see in that video. I wonder what emulator they used.

 

And that "oh yeah" animation happens at the completion of every level.

Edited January 23, 2018 by mr_me

[+thegoldenband]

Jokes aside, I'd love to know the actual answer to this one too. People at TASVideos have been doing tool-assisted speedruns for Intellivision lately; problem is that this game is too slow and "unsexy" for that to be a likely possibility.

[Eric7100]

Who was joking?

[+thegoldenband]

Who was joking?

 

Are you saying that you've beaten Level 13?

[Eric7100]

Are you saying that you've beaten Level 13?

 

Not at all.

[+thegoldenband]

So your post #2 was simply a speculation, then? Or have you seen someone beat Level 13?

[nosweargamer]

So your post #2 was simply a speculation, then? Or have you seen someone beat Level 13?

 

I took it as a joke. Technically, Kool-Aid man does it twice a level, once after each child part, but not at the end of the level (In each level you control the kids, then Kool-Aid Man, then the kids again, then Kool-Aid Man and then you move onto the next level)

 

Could he show up at the end of the 13th level? Maybe. Does the game freeze after the 13th level showing you your final score? Maybe. Does it just loop the 13th level. Maybe.

I was just hoping someone here knew, but I have yet to find anyone who has ever made it that far.

[+thegoldenband]

Yeah, we can guess or assume what might happen at the end of Level 13, but it'd be great to know what actually happens for sure. There have been a few games that surprised me at the end!

[+save2600]

Should start another highly valued IntelliSpecial® Poll:

Do you still play Kool-Aid Man?

Do you still drink Kool-Aid?

If you answered yes to either... why?

[nosweargamer]

Do you still drink Kool-Aid?

 

If you answered yes to either... why?

 

No...they discontinued Sharkleberry Fin

[Zendocon]

I do remember playing in the Kool-Aid Man phase as a kid and catching the second of the Thirsties at the far right edge of the playfield a few times.  Since the screen pans slightly to the right to display your score for a few seconds before returning to the kids' phase, it might go one background card beyond where it should, and display garbage on the far right side of the screen, which I think was GROM card 116, yellow foreground.

 

When I saw that as a kid, I thought it was the shingles from a neighboring house, seen close-up, and I wondered why the kids never ran to the neighbors' house to call the police and report they had been kidnapped by the Thirsties.

[larryvgs]

Used to own this game back in the day thinking it would be a rare valuable game some day, but have long since given up on its price going above $100 and have sold it on EBay.  Have been trying out the Nostalgia emulator lately and returning to playing Kool-Aid Man again, and was able to get to Level 13 only through constant saving and restoring of the game in the emulator, and trying to stay as close to the middle of the screen as possible, often moving back so there was equal space to either side of the children, and then waiting for the thirties to make an appearance.  Once I got to Level 13 the thirsties were IMPOSSIBLE to avoid, and they lock on you like a heat seeking missile even if you nowhere close to them.  Would love to know if anyone finds a solution to level 13 using this constant save and restore approach, or if the programmer intentonally made Level 13 impossible to complete.

[IMBerzerk]

Once you pass level 13, Kool Aid Man's picture breaks, all his juice spills out him while falling to his knees .... then he says the "oh no!!" from Bomb Squad.  

 

The game ends with Space Spartans.. "The Battle is Over" as the thirsties drink up what's left of him.

 

I think I'm watching too much Walking Dead... ?

[+thegoldenband]

On 3/8/2022 at 10:16 AM, larryvgs said:

Used to own this game back in the day thinking it would be a rare valuable game some day, but have long since given up on its price going above $100 and have sold it on EBay.  Have been trying out the Nostalgia emulator lately and returning to playing Kool-Aid Man again, and was able to get to Level 13 only through constant saving and restoring of the game in the emulator, and trying to stay as close to the middle of the screen as possible, often moving back so there was equal space to either side of the children, and then waiting for the thirties to make an appearance.  Once I got to Level 13 the thirsties were IMPOSSIBLE to avoid, and they lock on you like a heat seeking missile even if you nowhere close to them.  Would love to know if anyone finds a solution to level 13 using this constant save and restore approach, or if the programmer intentonally made Level 13 impossible to complete.

I wonder if you could tell the emulator to (temporarily) ignore collision detection with the thirsties? It'd be really interesting to see what happens in Level 14: a crash, a return to low aggression, or more of the same. And conversely if Level 13 is impassable even with a tool-assisted run, it'd be cool to know it's a de facto kill screen.

[zzip]

It ends when Kool Aid Man drinks the Kool Aid

Edited March 9, 2022 by zzip

[+BBWW]

It ends ceremonially with the Thristies drinking Kool-Aid in a remote settlement in the jungles of Guyana.

[Zendocon]

4 hours ago, thegoldenband said:

I wonder if you could tell the emulator to (temporarily) ignore collision detection with the thirsties? It'd be really interesting to see what happens in Level 14: a crash, a return to low aggression, or more of the same. And conversely if Level 13 is impassable even with a tool-assisted run, it'd be cool to know it's a de facto kill screen.

I tried doing just that.  Even with the collision bit turned off for the Thirsties and kids' sprites, the same thing happens when the Thirsties catch the kids.  That would mean collision detection is happening at the software level, same as for Lock & Chase.  The four collectable objects are assigned to the last 4 sprites, so setting a lower value at $104 doesn't work either, like it did for Vectron.  I'll have to look further into the ROM.

[Mark Kennedy]

10 minutes ago, Zendocon said:

I tried doing just that.  Even with the collision bit turned off for the Thirsties and kids' sprites, the same thing happens when the Thirsties catch the kids.  That would mean collision detection is happening at the software level, same as for Lock & Chase.  The four collectable objects are assigned to the last 4 sprites, so setting a lower value at $104 doesn't work either, like it did for Vectron.  I'll have to look further into the ROM.

You would have to alter the logic that makes the Thirsties move.  That should be pretty easy to do if you have disassembled the code.  But seem my other post on the answer about the level limit.

[+thegoldenband]

2 hours ago, Mark Kennedy said:

You would have to alter the logic that makes the Thirsties move.  That should be pretty easy to do if you have disassembled the code.  But seem my other post on the answer about the level limit.

Wow, @Mark Kennedy, awesome to have you aboard! (For anyone who doesn't know, see here.)

 

I haven't spotted your other post -- AtariAge is claiming you only have one so far -- is it on AtariAge somewhere? Would love to know more about any level limit (or absence of one).