The Not So Chubby Cherub Challenge!!!!

[Jeevan | 8,911]

Fully updated scoreboard!!!!  If there is a discrepancy let me know.......

This is where you stand until 11pm EST Sunday the 14th.  Feel free to drop it by 10:59 pm, it will tell me when you posted it, if not i can find out for sure from @Gloves.  

Best of luck and hopefully you all had fun!!!!

Be on the lookout for future contests. 

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

2 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Naw, that score is safe.  I just beat the game (stage 12) for my personal list, but I got tons of points so that I'd have extra tries on the harder levels.  And now that I've done it, I just do not have it in me to try a low-score run.

Some food for thought:

-First NES game with a day/night cycle?
-First/only NES game with a naked protagonist?
-First/only NES game where you can go to heaven (clouds) and hell (pits)?

Hints/Tips:

-Free Power refill: fall in a pit on purpose; it's easy to get out of (they're all the same), you can't lose lives or time in the pit, and when you reappear in the real world your power meter is refilled.
-To escape a pit, jump up to the lollipop, then up to an invisible ledge under 'T' in STAGE, then up to an invisible ledge under 'G' in stage, then over to the door.
-Not really helpful for this low-score contest, but to get bonus points and a Power refill, attach the top of your head to the bottom of any halo that comes out of a smoke stack and ride it up into the sky/clouds/heaven.
-To minimize your score, wait until the timer is past 19:00 in levels 4-6 before finding your friend so you won't get massive bonus points for time (I never did this, but it seems like an obvious strat for low-score runs).

 

Congrats on the win. You 100% nailed it when it comes to the time bonus stages. My biggest reason for low scores is waiting until time nearly expires on those stages. Boring as hell but effective.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

17 hours ago, Dr. Morbis said:

Naw, that score is safe.  I just beat the game (stage 12) for my personal list, but I got tons of points so that I'd have extra tries on the harder levels.  And now that I've done it, I just do not have it in me to try a low-score run.

Some food for thought:

-First NES game with a day/night cycle?
-First/only NES game with a naked protagonist?
-First/only NES game where you can go to heaven (clouds) and hell (pits)?

Hints/Tips:

-Free Power refill: fall in a pit on purpose; it's easy to get out of (they're all the same), you can't lose lives or time in the pit, and when you reappear in the real world your power meter is refilled.
-To escape a pit, jump up to the lollipop, then up to an invisible ledge under 'T' in STAGE, then up to an invisible ledge under 'G' in stage, then over to the door.
-Not really helpful for this low-score contest, but to get bonus points and a Power refill, attach the top of your head to the bottom of any halo that comes out of a smoke stack and ride it up into the sky/clouds/heaven.
-To minimize your score, wait until the timer is past 19:00 in levels 4-6 before finding your friend so you won't get massive bonus points for time (I never did this, but it seems like an obvious strat for low-score runs).

 

It sounds like you have the game figured out. Hopefully you get some more time to play today.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Bearcat-Doug

[JamesRobot | 5,801]

Update: Stage 5

[Red | 437]

I played a bit yesterday and beat it last night.  I think I can lower my score, so I'm going to play some more later today.

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I did one more low score run today, but still only made it to Stage 8 and managed to get 19810. I never tried a higher score run to see if I could just finish the game. I look forward to giving it another shot next year.

Only downside to the low score challenge is levels 4-6 where you literally have to wait around for several minutes to get rid of the time bonus. Other than that (and the general difficulty of the later stages), this was a pretty good challenge.

Edited February 14, 2021 by DoctorEncore

[Jeevan | 8,911]

10 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

I did one more low score run today, but still only made it to Stage 8 and managed to get 19810. I never tried a higher score run to see if I could just finish the game. I look forward to giving it another shot next year.

Only downside to the low score challenge is levels 4-6 where you literally have to wait around for several minutes to get rid of the time bonus. Other than that (and the general difficulty of the later stages), this was a pretty good challenge.

bahahaha, next year it will be loop it 5 times or ur score don't count jk

[mideast | 144]

You would think wives / fiancés / girlfriends would like you playing Chubby Cherub all Valentine's Day. But then you would be wrong.

[Jeevan | 8,911]

I'm glad to see quite a few of you enjoyed this little contest.  Glad it worked out.  just under 7 hours for any more attempts guys.  Is someone holding a score till 10:30 when no one else can make another run?  We shall see I guess.  Look forward and stay tuned for the next contest.

[NESfiend | 1,515]

35 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

 Is someone holding a score till 10:30 when no one else can make another run?  

I wish I was holding out. Finally got through level 9 with a few lives to spare last night. Apparently missed the jewel on 10 that makes fruit appear. Got stuck at the stop sign with no fuit to eat. Cost me all my lives. Ill be making a few more runs tonight, but doubt I can finish it off 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,089]

9 hours ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

It sounds like you have the game figured out. Hopefully you get some more time to play today.

I don't know if you used the free Power refill by falling in a pit strategy on your run, but I did it a bunch in stages 10 and 11 when I couldn't find some of the jewels that make the treats appear.  However, Bandai must've known about this loophole because there is NOT ONE pit in the entirety of Stage 12 for you to fall in, and on top of that, most of the hidden jewels do not make any treats appear.   These issues makes Stage 12 far more difficult than any other level in the game, and it sucks that you have to play through eleven friggin levels just to give yourself a shot at beating Stage 12...

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Morbis said:

I don't know if you used the free Power refill by falling in a pit strategy on your run, but I did it a bunch in stages 10 and 11 when I couldn't find some of the jewels that make the treats appear.  However, Bandai must've known about this loophole because there is NOT ONE pit in the entirety of Stage 12 for you to fall in, and on top of that, most of the hidden jewels do not make any treats appear.   These issues makes Stage 12 far more difficult than any other level in the game, and it sucks that you have to play through eleven friggin levels just to give yourself a shot at beating Stage 12...

I did use it after I noticed the energy refill when I accidentally fell in a pit the first time. Stage 12 was definitely tough. It was hard to get enough fruit just to keep my energy from running out.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

45 minutes ago, Jeevan said:

I'm glad to see quite a few of you enjoyed this little contest.  Glad it worked out.  just under 7 hours for any more attempts guys.  Is someone holding a score till 10:30 when no one else can make another run?  We shall see I guess.  Look forward and stay tuned for the next contest.

I haven't played since I posted my score. I gave myself the day off after I finished it yesterday. 

[Red | 437]

1 hour ago, Jeevan said:

I'm glad to see quite a few of you enjoyed this little contest.  Glad it worked out.  just under 7 hours for any more attempts guys.  Is someone holding a score till 10:30 when no one else can make another run?  We shall see I guess.  Look forward and stay tuned for the next contest.

I guess you could say I'm holding a score, but I know I could do better and I'm still playing, so I haven't posted yet.

1 hour ago, Dr. Morbis said:

I don't know if you used the free Power refill by falling in a pit strategy on your run, but I did it a bunch in stages 10 and 11 when I couldn't find some of the jewels that make the treats appear.  However, Bandai must've known about this loophole because there is NOT ONE pit in the entirety of Stage 12 for you to fall in, and on top of that, most of the hidden jewels do not make any treats appear.   These issues makes Stage 12 far more difficult than any other level in the game, and it sucks that you have to play through eleven friggin levels just to give yourself a shot at beating Stage 12...

I use a spare life or two in Stage 12 so I don't have to worry about food/power.  On the second half, I just fly as far as I can, lose a life, and fly as far as I can again.  If I don't have an extra life there, I'm pretty much doomed.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Red

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

1 hour ago, Red said:

I guess you could say I'm holding a score, but I know I could do better and I'm still playing, so I haven't posted yet.

I use a spare life or two in Stage 12 so I don't have to worry about food/power.  On the second half, I just fly as far as I can, lose a life, and fly as far as I can again.  If I don't have an extra life there, I'm pretty much doomed.

I was lucky enough to have a couple lives left when I got to stage 12 so I could get through it. My score is probably too high to win, but I'll let it ride and see where I end up. 

[mideast | 144]

@Gloves Do we get VGS Valentine's Day contest participant baubles for this? 

I don't think I have the time or will power to get in the top 3 lol

[Red | 437]

37 minutes ago, Bearcat-Doug said:

I was lucky enough to have a couple lives left when I got to stage 12 so I could get through it. My score is probably too high to win, but I'll let it ride and see where I end up. 

I'm at under 30k right now.  Under 25k is definitely possible, but I'm not sure if I'll get there tonight.

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

14 minutes ago, Red said:

I'm at under 30k right now.  Under 25k is definitely possible, but I'm not sure if I'll get there tonight.

You definitely have me beat then. I knew my score could have been lower, but I doubt that I would have been able to get that low. Great job!

[Jeevan | 8,911]

2 hrs. and 15 mins.

[Red | 437]

25,090 Stage 13

I better post this now in case I'm in the middle of a game when time is up (I'm still going for under 25k).

 

[NESfiend | 1,515]

Got to level 10 with 4 lives and fell in a goddamn hole. Finally had it figured out and blew it. brutal

Lets do it again next year @Jeevan. Really enjoyed it. Per usual, a day late and buck short, but it was loads of fun

Edited February 15, 2021 by NESfiend

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

Really tried to beat Red's score, but I couldn't get a run better than that.

Still though, I'll take it.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

I suppose that's it, then? Finally I can start working on my backlog, haha.

I didn't say anything in the thread, but I've been keeping up with it and practicing the game for the last few days as well. I got a 40k or so run yesterday, then I did a bunch more runs tonight and got the 27k run. I could probably beat Red's score, but I'd most likely need another day or two to pull it off, just couldn't make it happen tonight.

Frankly I'm glad to be done with this game. You know the Tetris effect, where you play Tetris for so long that when you close your eyes, you start to see Tetris blocks falling? I started getting a similar thing with this game, except with the music instead of the visuals. So damn grating, reminded me of Mappy, haha.

[Red | 437]

19 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

I suppose that's it, then? Finally I can start working on my backlog, haha.

I didn't say anything in the thread, but I've been keeping up with it and practicing the game for the last few days as well. I got a 40k or so run yesterday, then I did a bunch more runs tonight and got the 27k run. I could probably beat Red's score, but I'd most likely need another day or two to pull it off, just couldn't make it happen tonight.

Frankly I'm glad to be done with this game. You know the Tetris effect, where you play Tetris for so long that when you close your eyes, you start to see Tetris blocks falling? I started getting a similar thing with this game, except with the music instead of the visuals. So damn grating, reminded me of Mappy, haha.

I admit, I played quite a bit today.  It seemed like almost every run I found ways to reduce my score.  I wound up getting an even better score than I posted, but time ran out, so I couldn't post it.

The music is stuck in my head too.  I would have muted it, but I wanted to be able to hear the dog bark sound.  At least it's not as bad as Bad Street Brawler or Hydlide.  Those games I only play on mute.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

14 minutes ago, Red said:

I admit, I played quite a bit today.  It seemed like almost every run I found ways to reduce my score.  I wound up getting an even better score than I posted, but time ran out, so I couldn't post it.

The music is stuck in my head too.  I would have muted it, but I wanted to be able to hear the dog bark sound.  At least it's not as bad as Bad Street Brawler or Hydlide.  Those games I only play on mute.

I was about ready to just mute the game if I played it any more, haha.

Anyway, congrats on first place! You definitely deserve it. I'll definitely take second place in stride, especially since I was only a couple thousand below the score you initially posted Or, I guess above would be the correct way of wording it in this case, haha

Edited February 15, 2021 by ZeldaFreak