Dr. Morbis Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 I’m a long time lurker on AA, but I just had to crawl out from under my rock for this… I’ve always felt that Kaboom was one of the most demanding video games of any era. It’s not like today’s games where beating the game is more a matter of deciding if you want to put in the requisite hours to play through it. Lasting past the first few thousand points in Kaboom requires excellent hand-to-eye coordination, incredible reflexes, and considerable endurance, not to mention total concentration. Anyway, I found this game a little over a year ago and I’ve been hooked on it ever since. There is no other game past or present that has the lasting play appeal that this one does to make you want to play just one more game again and again and again. I’ve been playing Kaboom regularly (usually around 4 hours a week) since I found it and I feel like I get a little bit better every time I play. Today I did the unthinkable… I got a score of 364,919! I did it on a heavy sixer in front of a 27” TV. I took about 10 pictures of the screen with my really crappy digital camera, and I think the pic posted below turned out the best (I hope it shows up in this post). I wasn’t at all expecting to get such a high score. My previous record was 95,064, but I’d usually get incredibly nervous whenever I got close to that score and completely choke. But not this time. Once I passed 100k the stress was gone and it was smooth sailing. The game took approximately 2 hours and my thumb was getting really sore by the end of it. The funny thing is, I distinctly remember about a year ago when I wanted to hit 10,000 points so bad (so I could see the Mad Bomber’s “surprise”), but thinking that it was completely out of the question for me to accomplish even that. After today, I truly believe that scoring 999,999 is only a matter of time for me! There aren’t many people in my day-to-day world who can appreciate this, so I’m sharing it with you guys. Do any of you enjoy this game as much as I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Very nice work, if I must say so myself I say you have the potential to tie todd at Twin Galaxies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Not bad at all. Better than my high score on that game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Glad you came out from under your rock! Yes it takes a bunch of true geeks like us to appreciate such a thing. This is the only place I can tell people about my geek accomplishments and not be looked at like I'm crazy. Nice Score, well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Player Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Kaboom is a great game that I suck at. I don't think I've broken the 3K barrier. So I'm very impressed with that score. Good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackjack Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Here's the link to the High Score Clubs week of competition on that title. http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=49947 Looks like you would have come in 2nd behind Todd Rogers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Congrats on the score!! I have owned Kaboom since the early eighties but my vader didnt come with paddles so it sat there with Super Breakout until I bought a set in the nineties and it quickly became my fav game and is still one of my top five most played today, dont think I will ever see a score like that though. sms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christophero Sly Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Nice score! If it weren't for Dragster, I'd play a lot more Kaboom!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Wow! Most impressive Dr. Morbis! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recycled Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Wow! I'm still trying to break 3K myself. The game takes so much concentration I really need to be up for it. My kids love the commercial on the Activision Anthology. It's to hard to play on that version with the joystick....the paddles definitely give more control. Although still just as hard at a later point in the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 I agree that Kaboom! is a one-of-a-kind. Definitely belongs in the top 5 video games of all time on any platform, and is probably #1 for longevity. I'm like Recycled... still trying to crack 3,000! My dream is to someday see the Mad Bomber's "look of shock" at 10,000 points. The only complaint I have about the game is the first 2 waves are way too slow and easy. I get needing a warm-up and all of that, but I really wish it would just start at wave 3. Especially when I get into a groove of wanting to play it over and over and over and over and... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuppicide Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Nice score! Is there anyway to play Kaboom! on Stella?! I can't find out how to map the paddles to be used on a keyboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariman Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Wow! that is one high score! Ever notice how your eyes play tricks on you after playing Kaboom! for extended periods of time? I've gotten past the 3k barrier, but I think the highest I've ever made it might be somewhere around 5k. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 The highest I made was 65k on normal kaboom!, and 14k on a hacked kaboom! where you start out with only one bucket. Here's a tip for you all trying to crack level 8: Play 5 or so times on expert. Try to get to level 6 on expert. Once you do that, kick it back to novice, and have a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeybastard Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 I think if you added up all of my Kaboom scores over the last 20+ years it wouldn't equal that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomBrazil Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 I'm shocked! 3k barrier I went across, and I also though 10k barrier was a distant, but possible goal. But I am completely stunned by this situation, and, I cannot even imagine how it would be to stay 2 hours glued to the TV in such an adrenaline-game. And can you even imagine ToddRogers 6 hours game? All in all, I really think Kaboom! is one of the greatest Atari games of all times. QUESTION: has anyone played Kaboom! for the 5200?? Is that good as 2600 version? Does the trak-ball make a good service replacing paddles? At least, I never saw a paddle for the 5200! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis Posted February 6, 2005 Author Share Posted February 6, 2005 Here's the link to the High Score Clubs week of competition on that title.http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=49947 Looks like you would have come in 2nd behind Todd Rogers. I was playing on normal (difficulty B). I noticed that the High score club used Difficulty A (expert), so I gave it a go to see how I matched up. The result: only 4,371 points. But when I quit I was starting to get a feel for it and I'm confident that my score on expert would improve. Maybe I'll try it if I ever max the game out on difficulty B. Ever notice how your eyes play tricks on you after playing Kaboom! for extended periods of time? I did notice that at first. Everything would be freefalling downward when I'd look away from the TV after a long Kaboom session. But that stopped happening long ago. I think one of the big secrets of Kaboom is training your eyes. How you use your eyes is just as important as how you use the paddle with your hands. I find if I'm getting behind with the bomb pattern, my eyes will be viewing the lowest section of the screen (close to the buckets). That's a cue for me to pick up the pace and get back on track. It's kind of like driving: at first you are worried about what's on the road two feet in front of you, but after you're a seasoned driver, your view is more towards the horizon taking everything in. When I'm on the highest speed on Kaboom, I try to keep my eyes on the top third of the green part of the screen and just let the bombs come to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Does it eventually top out? Aprox how long into it, or how many points? I can hit 3K after a few go rounds, but I've yet to hit 4K, I would like to reach the 10K mark, some day I will. Need to play more often I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 QUESTION: has anyone played Kaboom! for the 5200?? Is that good as 2600 version? Does the trak-ball make a good service replacing paddles? At least, I never saw a paddle for the 5200! I don't have Kaboom! on my 5200, but in my experince, nothing beats the 2600 paddle in games that originaly were meant to be played that way. Now there is an Atari 8-bit version of Kaboom!, which, AFAIK is the same as the 5200 version, only you can use traditional paddles. Be advised that most Activision games were best on the 2600 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisbid Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 kaboom with a trackball on the 5200 isnt practical, you have to do too much rolling and kaboom requires perfect precision. believe it or not, the analog stick does a great job, since it does not auto center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kencrisis Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Does it eventually top out? Aprox how long into it, or how many points? I can hit 3K after a few go rounds, but I've yet to hit 4K, I would like to reach the 10K mark, some day I will. Need to play more often I guess. According to digitpress.com: At 1 million points, the game ends and the score counter displays "!!!!!!!!". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
video game addict Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Sorry, I mean does the difficulty ever top out, or does it continue to speed up? I would assume it would have to stop eventually, but I'm not good enough to see this happen. At least I can't tell that it's leveled out any. I'm curious at what point in the game, if it's closer to 10K or 50K or 100K or more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Morbis Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 Sorry, I mean does the difficulty ever top out, or does it continue to speed up? I would assume it would have to stop eventually, but I'm not good enough to see this happen. At least I can't tell that it's leveled out any. I'm curious at what point in the game, if it's closer to 10K or 50K or 100K or more? It's all explained in the manual. There are only 8 bomb "groups". The game has only 4 speeds with only 2 bomb formations. so group one is speed 1 with the bombs spread out. Group 2 is speed 1 with the bombs dropped together/continuous. Group 8 is speed 4 with the tight formation. If you beat group 8 it just keeps replaying group 8 over and over again until you drop a bomb and get kicked down to group 7 briefly before heading back to group 8. That's why anyone with the skills to score 20,000 points should, in theory, be able to score 999,999. It's just a question of building endurance. As for the score going to !!!!!!'s, I thought the game froze at 999,999. Perhaps DP has confused Kaboom with Laser Blast? I don't recall ever seeing a pic on the net showing exclamation points in Kaboom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 kaboom with a trackball on the 5200 isnt practical, you have to do too much rolling and kaboom requires perfect precision. believe it or not, the analog stick does a great job, since it does not auto center. I haven't played the 5200 version, but yeah I would have to guess that the analog stick is a million times better than the trackball for a game like this. I've played Breakout-like games on the computer with the mouse enough to know it's no match for a paddle (or analog stick)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Room 34 Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 As for the score going to !!!!!!'s, I thought the game froze at 999,999. Perhaps DP has confused Kaboom with Laser Blast? I don't recall ever seeing a pic on the net showing exclamation points in Kaboom. I always thought ALL of the early Activision games (at least the ones with point-type scoring) did this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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