Some of the keener-eyed readers of this blog will have noticed that back in January 2014, when it was in something of a hiatus, a few comments were posted from some of you under a couple of my posts. This included a comment from none other than Mr Paul Elia, holder of the 5th highest Pengo score ever officially achieved (with 694,030).
I have to confess I didn’t actually see the comments when they came in, so my profoundest apologies if you felt slighted by me not acknowledging them, especially where you asked a question! I will try and be more attentive - and recognise that this is not just all about me …
So, in a fairly lame attempt to make amends, and to bring you all up to date, the comments (in time/date order) were as follows, with my responses now added:
Sandman x - 13 January 2014 at 11:29
Any updates since this time? I love Pengo and recently have been able to play it via a 96 in 1 kit on Pac Man hardware. I absolutely suck at it but it's a game I'd like to get much better at.
PengoQuest: Yeah, sorry about the radio silence on the blog for a while there Sandman (or Mr/Ms/Mrs x?), but we’re well and truly back in business. Hopefully we haven’t lost you. I agree, it’s an engrossing game, and I hope your practice is going well. Would love to hear all about it one day.
Anonymous - 17 January 2014 at 12:59
You still on this quest? I'm on a similar mission myself. Surpassed 260,000 for the first time just recently, so still got a ways to go. It's a great game, it's teaching me about daily practice and the zen of dealing with game collision bugs (*breathe* the BUG IS PART OF THE GAME THE UNIVERSE ISN'T ALWAYS A FAIR PLACE!! *breathe*)
PengoQuest: Certainly am, Anonymous, and good to meet a fellow traveler/missionary. 260,000 is not a bad effort - but I agree, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Can I venture to suggest that at this stage of your development (unless of course you've really zoomed ahead in the time since you first left your comment), you’ve got to be concentrating on survival, especially in the last 4-6 Acts? Forget all about going for the 10,000’s there - it’s just too risky. I also found for those Acts that the key (like many things in life, really) is demonstrating courage! Don’t just stand back and wait for them to come to you. Get on the front foot and try to eat or kill as many as you can as quickly as you can. The longer each Act goes on, and the fewer blocks there are to hide behind, the greater the certainty that you’ll die - especially if there’s two or three of them still galloping around.
As for the other part of your comment, I hadn’t really thought about it that way, but whatever floats your boat!
Anonymous - 17 January 2014 at 13:05
Hey Sandman x I only found this blog today and I've got the same question! On a quiet quest of my own to get at least in the top five :)
PengoQuest: Go for it! Where do you play, if you don’t mind me asking? If it’s in a public place, I need to add it to my list of public Pengo machines (and future holiday destinations!).
Paul Elia - 20 January 2014 at 03:56
Thanks for this post. I am Paul Elia with the #5 score from 1983. I went to Twin Galaxies to look up some old scores of mine but the site is down. It seems that the company and its score keeping service are in new hands.
PengoQuest: Hey Paul! Welcome aboard, and great to hear from you! Of course, now that you’ve poked your head above the parapet, I’m going to have to ask you all about that fateful day - Thursday 31 March 1983, apparently on a machine at a Putt Putt Golf venue somewhere in the US - when you ascended to the podium of all time Pengo high scores. From what I can make out from some back issues of “Joystik” magazine that are available on-line, the official Pengo high score first appeared in their April 1983 edition, with a gentleman named Mark Robichek of Mountainview, California, credited with scoring 263,860 on 24 October 1982. Which can’t have been too long after the game was actually released - obviously a fast learner! The next edition, in July 1983, had Kevin Leisner of Racine, Wisconsin, listed as the record holder, with a score of 809,990 achieved on 25 February 1983. That score was also noted as the highest in the next couple of editions (in September 1983 and November 1983). Of course, Aussie Rod Day then amassed his score in August 1983 and the rest is history. My point being that in March 1983, when you were doing your stuff, yours was the second highest Pengo score ever achieved (and documented)! A magnificent effort. I’m sure we’d all love for you to share your memories of those couple of hours.
And for those of you interested in Joystik, the link is here - http://www.digitpress.com/library/magazines/joystik/joystik.htm Their April 1983 issue carries quite a lengthy report on Pengo, titled “The Arctic Antics of Pengo”. Worth a read, albeit some of the strategy advice they offer is a bit silly.
Scoring Update
While I’m here, I may as well update progress over the last little while. There hasn’t really been too much play to report since the last post, although I did happen to score a very nice 1,421,010 on 8 May after not having much sleep at all the previous evening. It’s now become my 4th highest score, as follows:
1. 1,884,380 - 21 February 2015
2. 1,548,250 - 6 December 2014
3. 1,452,130 - 31 July 2014
4. 1,421,010 - 8 May 2015
5. 1,365,400 - 22 January 2015
• Fastest Act clearance - 11 seconds
• Fastest Act clearance with 10,000 bonus - 23 seconds
• Highest score after first 16 Acts - 221,880
• Total scores over 1,000,000 - 23
• Total scores in excess of current official world record - 9
The top 5 official Twin Galaxies high scores remain as follows:
1. 1,217,650 - Paul Hornitzky, 9 September 2012
2. 1,110,370 - Rodney Day, 13 August 1983
3. 809,990 - Kevin Leisner, 25 February 1983
4. 723,950 - Frank Lupia, 20 September 2008
5. 694,030 - Paul Elia, 31 March 1983
