Season 18 Round 11 of 15 - Ms. Pac-Man (Tengen)

[+asponge]

Please take note of the settings under game rules as they're not the default.  For those of us who've not played this port before, utilize the Pac Booster by either holding the A button or switching it on/off with the B button.

 

 

Game Rules:

Pac Booster:  Use A or B

Game Difficulty:  Normal

Maze Selection:  Strange

Starting Level:  1

Manual

 

Score Post Deadline: Sunday January 24 at 11:59 PM CST.

 

AtariAge High Score:

None

 

Scores as of 1/24:

Razzie.P          158,930
fakecortex        105,090
Sneakyturtleegg    40,460
bubufubu           31,200
AtariSphinx        30,950
asponge            24,880
mbd30              17,310
jblenkle           16,510

 

Season Standings:

 

 

General HSC Season Rules:

• To participate, just post a score to the thread. Anyone can join in at any time.
• A picture or screenshot is encouraged when posting a score but not required.
• The season is 15 rounds long.
• Games will be posted on Sundays and run two weeks through Sunday at 11:59 PM CST.
• Do not exploit game glitches, take advantage of 1-up loops or intentionally die in order to replay a level.
• If "point pressing" is not specified in the game rules you should be moving forward in an attempt to complete/loop the game and not "camping" for points.
• No emulator save states, slow-mo, rewind, etc.
• No cheats, e.g. Konami code, Game Genie, etc.
• Turbo controllers are allowed.
• Round points are awarded according to the following chart:
  

[AtariSphinx]

Ms Pacman: 23,940

 

Getting the scoring started. 

 

Never played this NES version before.  "Strange" mazes make it interesting especially when it seems you have a clear maze path to follow then realize the hole is too small!

[fakecortex]

Huge Ms. Pac-Maner over here, very excited for this round. I always wanted Tengen Ms. Pac-Man, but I don't remember why. I guess I had heard it was a really good port. But seeing the extra modes here, wow, I want to go find this ASAP. The 2-player co-op and vs looks like so much fun! Anyway, gonna throw up my first score. 50K is always my starting goal for any version (it was the score that snagged ya a free slice at the pizza place where I cut my teeth on Ms. P). So I know that I'll meet that shortly. The Pac Booster is awesome and definitely will take some getting used to. Well, off to ebay or somewhere, I gotta get this one...

 

49,100 Level 5, PB, Normal, Strange

Edited January 13, 2021 by fakecortex
corrected level

[fakecortex]

8 hours ago, AtariSphinx said:

Never played this NES version before.  "Strange" mazes make it interesting especially when it seems you have a clear maze path to follow then realize the hole is too small!

RIGHT?! I was playing, going, "there's nothing strange yet...", then bam, stuck on a wall...wut.

[mbd30]

I love Ms. Pac-Man. I don't think I've ever played the NES port though.

[fakecortex]

Turns out I have the Genesis version, which is the same with a facelift. I can't believe I never realized it had all those modes...don't even know how I got it, lol ??‍♂️. The hardest thing for me with home ports of Pac games is that nothing quite compares to a (good) arcade joystick. I ended up grabbing a cart off eBay (before I realized about the Gen version ?). I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays with the NES Advantage.

[fakecortex]

So close to 60k! Strange gets a lot stranger at level 6. It's like the programmers went, what if we got rid of the walls, what would happen? It's bonkers. I also wish I had a nice joystick to use, it's difficult with a dpad. The pac-boost is really hard to control, and I find myself needing to use it at just the right time so I can still make corners without missing them. This is a blast.

 

 

59,790 Level 6

[+asponge]

24,880

 

[jblenkle]

Ms. Pac-Man - 9,000

[AtariSphinx]

Ms Pac-Man (PB, Normal, Strange): 30,950 level 5

[Sneakyturtleegg]

I've never played in the NES HSC, but I'm glad I found it. I play in the A2600 every so often when I can fit it in. The NES is underrated when it comes to arcade ports. There are quite a few of them. I figured I'd give this Ms. Pac-Man game variation a shot. I'll keep an eye on the NES HSC and play when I can. You guys are already in Round 11. Better late than never. Oh well.

 

22860 to start out with 

[bubufubu]

31,200

 

 

[bubufubu]

1 hour ago, Sneakyturtleegg said:

I've never played in the NES HSC, but I'm glad I found it. I play in the A2600 every so often when I can fit it in. The NES is underrated when it comes to arcade ports. There are quite a few of them. I figured I'd give this Ms. Pac-Man game variation a shot. I'll keep an eye on the NES HSC and play when I can. You guys are already in Round 11. Better late than never. Oh well.

Glad to have you.  Welcome and thanks for participating.

[fakecortex]

10 hours ago, bubufubu said:

31,200

 

 

what's up with the glitching? Strange can be strange...hahaha

[Sneakyturtleegg]

40460

 

[fakecortex]

Guys, I love this game. I just wish I could play it on an arcade machine. I am glad I'm getting better with the d-pad tho. In the arcade, the key to high scores in the high levels was lucking out with random apples, pears, and especially bananas. Here, each new level gets you a new "fruit" with crazy high values. Things sure are strange. I was so happy when I broke 60k, I can't believe that just a game later I broke 100. This is always my hope when playing the arcade version. Of course, scoring here is a lot different, and the stages don't make it any easier, haha.

 

105,090 Level 10

[jblenkle]

Ms. Pac-Man - 16,510

[+Razzie.P]

158,930

 

Got to level 12, I think.  Looking at the screenshot, it seems "obvious" what clear path to take, but in real time, I felt lost and kept running to dead ends somehow.

 

[mbd30]

17,310

[fakecortex]

5 hours ago, Razzie.P said:

158,930

 

Got to level 12, I think.  Looking at the screenshot, it seems "obvious" what clear path to take, but in real time, I felt lost and kept running to dead ends somehow.

Holy moly I have my work cut out for me. Nice job!! 

 

Another really cool thing about this game is that they give you 3 continues, so you can see what new strange levels are in store. They get quite crazy. I know exactly what you mean for level 12. I just got there on 2 player co-op and I kept smacking into walls. My copy from ebay just arrived, and I tried it out with the nes advantage- worked great! I hope I can beat my high with it before the deadline.

[fakecortex]

I am very glad I got the cart and have a joystick to play with. Doesn't make it easy, but it just feels right. I definitely have more control, even if I'm trying to keep the advantage in one place on the table. Found out in the manual, if you pause the game and then press select & b, then the controls are swapped. I was able to turn the advantage upside down, use the joystick with my right hand and pac-boost with my left. It was totally the way to go. Love it. Gotta take a break now, but I was happy to beat my high. Hopefully I'll get another score up here tonight. I'll probably be trying right down to the wire with this one. Oh, and found out that you gotta snap that pic quick before it goes back to the options screen. But at least the high will stay there if not.

 

121,860 lvl 11

Edited January 24, 2021 by fakecortex

[AtariSphinx]

Ms Pac-Man (PB, Normal, Strange)  : 35,360 level 5

 

[fakecortex]

Wooooooh! Level 13 is a repeat of one of the hardest ones I think. Deciding when to lay off the pac-boost is necessary for me to clear those dots, otherwise the lack of walls just kills me. I was lucky enough to grab both the bonuses before I bit the dust for a new personal best! I'm gonna be collecting highs for this game forever. Between arcade, mini, big, and strange, plus pac-boost variations, and the difficulty setting, there are so many scores to go for. Then you add in two player co-op and competitive, wow. There's a lot of bang for your buck in this one.

 

172,530 lvl 13

[bubufubu]

53,630

[bubufubu]

On 1/22/2021 at 7:59 AM, fakecortex said:

what's up with the glitching? Strange can be strange...hahaha

I thought that's just how the mazes were laid out.  Come to find that the emulator I was using does not accurately display the stages.  I tried another one and that's how I managed a better score this time.  It was brutal with that first emulator, though.  Not only was the screen garbled like you can see in my first picture, but not all of the dots would display.  I lost my last life during that run due to the fact that the stage had no dots left and I couldn't progress!  Weird stuff.  ?