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What's the highest possible score in Sonic 1 SMS?

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Ambil, Oct 7, 2008.

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  1. Ambil

    Ambil

    I want that heinous hedgehog hammered! Member
    That's a question I asked myself when I was ten, after making one million points playing the game in a real SMS. I knew the bonuses you're given when the game ends, including that "Special Bonus" which gives you points for completing extra achievements.

    I've played the game in an emulator, using savestates, to create, probably, my highest score without cheating in the RAM or stuff like so. According to these statements:

    - All objects you can destroy gives you 100 points. Not only the badniks; monitors do too. Beating Robotnik, on the other hand, gives you nothing.
    - Always search the option that gives me the most points. If I have to catch the less rings to make a higher time bonus, then I will, and viceversa.
    - Always search for the special stages. It's preferible to get the continues, lives and thousands of points available in special stages. Remember that in the first special stage, rings are worth 100 points, but 200 in the second, 300 in the third, and so on. Plus, getting all the continue boxes in the 8 special stages gives you extra 100000 extra points in "Special Bonus".
    - Get the 1-up in the ending sign of the stages you can't access special stages (SBZ1, SBZ2 and SkyB1). This can be achieved only if you finish the stage with a certain amount of rings, that varies from stage to stage.
    - Get all the 1-up boxes. There's only one in each stage. At the final boss, a 1-up box will only appear if you got all the 17 previous ones in the stages. Plus, at the end of the game, each life is worth 5000 extra points for the score, and getting all the 1-up boxes gave me another extra 150000 points in "Special Bonus".
    - Get the six chaos emeralds. They give you 20000 points each if you get them all (5000 each if you don't get the six). They also give you 50000 extra points in "Special Bonus".
    - Use savestates for a better performance. Not losing a single life in all the game gives you 200000 extra points in "Special Bonus".

    This said, I used lots of times and opportunities to break all my time, rings and score records. However, there are some points to note before presenting the results:

    - What's the highest number of rings you can get in GHZ1, giving you must pass the stage in less than 30 seconds (to get 30000 time bonus points) and getting the life box? I guess it can't be more than 70. Same goes for GHZ2, but with 1 minute as time limit (10000 points).
    - Is it possible to beat BZ1 in less than 30 seconds, including the 1-up box? I always got 30 seconds as my best result, so I couldn't apply for the 30000 points.

    With all this, the highest score I got was 1456500 points (with 41 lives at the end of the game). All this is presented in the attached Excel sheet.

    [​IMG]

    I'm now starting to think about the highest possible number of lives. I think it can be 44 if you get an extra life in rings in all the special stages.
     
  2. nineko

    nineko

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    I didn't know about all those special bonuses :o

    Nice work, dude, I'm seriously impressed.
     
  3. doc eggfan

    doc eggfan

    Are you pondering what I'm pondering? Wiki Sysop
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    An interesting conundrum, I too have pondered this mystery when I learnt of the special bonuses.

    What would happen if you deliberately died 40 times, just so you could go through levels multiple times to collect rings and destroy enemies? Probably wouldn't be worth it considering the special bonus for not losing a life.
     
  4. Uber Shell

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    Well, the highest score would be as high as the counter could go. What you could do is find a level in which an easily obtained extra life could be found, obtain said extra life, destroy badniks and other such things for points, then commit suicide, and repeat. Yes, it would be extremely boring and long, and you most likely would not be able to do it without saving the state and taking a break to eat, sleep, study, and other things.
     
  5. muteKi

    muteKi

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    Do 1-up monitors actually regenerate after death? I had a strange suspicion that they, in fact, did not.
     
  6. Uber Shell

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    Hmm...I've never played the Master System version, but every other Sonic game I've played resets the entire level to the state it was when you started or hit the most recent starpost, including items.
     
  7. Thorn

    Thorn

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    I haven't played the Master System version in ages, but I know that there's a 300000 point time bonus available in the Game Gear version. From that chart, I'm guessing that's not the case in the Master System game?
     
  8. nineko

    nineko

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    They don't. The rings, however, do.
     
  9. Ambil

    Ambil

    I want that heinous hedgehog hammered! Member
    Indeed. You can play GHZ1, get 100 rings, kill some badniks, lose a life and repeat the process. I have been proven über-pwned by evidence.

    For the record, the score is stored in RAM in 6 bytes, in binary coded decimal. This means the max score in the memory could be 99999900 points.


    Time bonuses in SMS versions are:

    Code (Text):
    1. 0-00-0:29: 30000 points
    2. 0:30-0:59: 10000   "
    3. 1:00-1:29:  5000   "
    4. 1:30-1:59:  3000   "
    5. 2:00-2:29:  1000   "
    6. 2:30-2:59:   500   "
    7. 3:00-4:59:   100   "
    8. 5:00-9:59:   0   "
    Time bonuses in S1GG and S2 are much more complicated, with a division formula that represents a hyperbola (the more time, the less bonus).
     
  10. Uber Shell

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    "Uber Pwned by Uber Shell"...I like that...

    But I digress. If nineko is correct, then my arguement is null and void, although it would work on the Genesis games. But this is the Master System version, so...I really don't know if that could be calculated. You have to consider what is and isn't humanely possible; although it is possible mathematically, any unaltered human would most likey be incapable of getting the maximum bonus on everything.

    So, the maximum possible score should, in theory, but uncalculatable.
     
  11. nineko

    nineko

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    I am always correct.

    But your idea still works, because as I said, and as Ambil confirmed, you can collect 100 rings to get as many 1-ups as you want.
     
  12. Sik

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    OK, now let's try to get the maximum attanaible score without doing that trick =P Moreover, let's say, the maximum possible score without losing a single life. Now that's more interesting.
     
  13. Diablohead

    Diablohead

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    I love sonic 1 sm, the first sonic game I owned and one of the best ones imo for how simple yet fun it is to play, but I never realised how deep the score system was! and I never realised breaking all the 1up monitors makes one appear in the final act too, and a bonus for no deaths etc.

    You learn something new every day related to sonic...
     
  14. Eddo

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    Nice job with that score, either way. I always loved Sonic 1 GG, and I always wondered why I got 70000 for around 0:23 but around 50000 for about 0:24, because I was used the the Mega Drive version. A bit offtopic, but does anyone know the max score (without dying) for the MD version?
     
  15. Max Firestorm

    Max Firestorm

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    Aha! THAT explains how I managed to get an extra 100k on my last run.
     
  16. ColinC10

    ColinC10

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    So THAT'S why that 1-up sometimes appears in the final act! I played that game a huge amount when I was young and I never knew that until now. That's pretty cool - I thought it would be random or based on something you'd never guess (like your score being a multiple of 10000 or something). You're right, you do learn something new every day related to Sonic...
     
  17. Chupacabra

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    I don't believe it's possible to get both the special bonus for clearing the game without losing a life and the bonus for collecting all the 1-ups.

    Labyrinth Zone's Act 3's hidden 1-up is ridiculously difficult/impossible to escape with intact - or maybe I'm just shit, I don't know.
     
  18. British Gaijin

    British Gaijin

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    I have so much trouble with that bloody monitor that I just put all my focus toward the boss, usually. That 1-up monitor has given life, and taken it away. It has haunted me in my dreams.

    To get the highest score, would it be required to take the hidden floating platform in Sky Base Act 2?
    (Surely that would be quicker, and you don't earn any extra points for taking the hard way round, right?)

    Edit: This discussion's got me in the mood to hook my Model 1 up again.
     
  19. Ambil

    Ambil

    I want that heinous hedgehog hammered! Member
    It is possible to take the box without losing a life, but a shield is required.
    This video is a detailed explanation for all the 1-up boxes.
     
  20. Sik

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    Sik is pronounced as "seek", not as "sick". Tech Member
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    being an asshole =P
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