He scored all he could score and he can’t score no more!
It was more than enough, however, for Brooklyn, NY arcade champ Ben Falls to set a new world record score on classic coin-op Popeye, one of the first hit games for Nintendo.
Falls, a former record holder on Moon Patrol and a top Donkey Kong contender, recently pushed the Popeye record to unheard of heights. With an audience watching him play via a live internet broadcast, Ben racked up 3,023,060 points to take the all-time record.
“I had already beaten the record several times, but wanted to set the bar higher,” he said. “I got over 1 million on my first guy for the first time ever with about 1.2 million and then another 1.2 million with my second guy. I knew then that 3 million was a real possibility with 600,000 to go and two guys left. ‘Holy crap! Just keep it together!’ pretty much sums up what was going through my head.”
Shortly after the live broadcast, scorekeeping organization Twin Galaxies announced their official verification of the record, putting Ben’s new score above former champions such as Perry Rodgers and Electronic Gaming Monthly founder Steve Harris, who both held previous records around the 1.2 million mark.
“Perry Rodgers is an arcade legend and a great guy,” Falls said. “I have nothing but respect for him. I wasn’t expecting to pass the score by so much, but I wasn’t about to stop after having a great start. I don’t think its high enough to stop the Popeye contenders from chasing it, but at least it’ll be more painful trying.”
While perhaps best known for games that can throw surprises as you, Falls says he feels that Popeye game behavior can be predicted.
“Popeye is a game that I feel I have control over,” he said. “Other scores I’ve gone after like Donkey Kong, Frogger, and Moon Patrol have random elements that can totally screw you. In Popeye you don’t have that to blame. It’s only a semi-patternable game, but fairly predictable. The key is in learning the nuances of the enemies’ movements and staying focused.”
The skills shown by Falls during his record-setting run are also noted by the man who judged the score recording.
"It looks very hard to play," said Stephen Boyer, the Twin Galaxies referee who verified the new record. "To think he almost tripled the current world record is none other than amazing."
Falls next record-setting plans include a run at the world record on Bally/Midway’s cult classic Satan’s Hollow as well as a shot at reclaiming the Moon Patrol record that he has traded back and forth with multi-record holding Tom Votava.
“It's been really fun sharing my progress with other classic arcade gamers,” Falls said. “Friendly competition and fun with friends is what it's all about.”
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The author of this story can be found at PatrickScottPatterson.com and on Twitter @OriginalPSP. All quotes and information were obtained and first published here by the author. Please backlink and/or attribute proper credit to this source if using this material within another media report.
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