Scoreboard Spotlight: Salim Farhat's Punisher Record and More

Alex McCumbers,

July 23, 2018 1:45 PM

This week on the Scoreboard Spotlight we check out some solid runs across MAME, a perfect score on a WarioWare micro game, and a solid Playstation 2 run of a Taito classic. Plus we have a record-busting score for the Punisher arcade game.

Here at Twin Galaxies, we love a good high score and a record time. So each week we look deep in the wealth of Undisputed and Verified scores in the Twin Galaxies Adjudication Archive and dig up some spectacular recent scores! On this edition of the Scoreboard Spotlight, we take a look at an excellent performance on endless mode in King of Fighters ‘98, discover the end to a WarioWare GBA micro game, and see a phenomenal new record in the Punisher arcade game.

John Eden - Mausuke No Ojama The World (MAME): Points

We’ve said it in previous Scoreboard Spotlights, but it continues to ring true. Twin Galaxies players uncover the most obscure titles and then quickly put up pretty high scores on them. That’s the case with this strange, Japanese puzzle game Mausuke no Ojama The World, which was developed by Data East. It kinda reminds us of Gumby stacking fruit loops, but John Eden earns the top spot in this track with 35,160 points.

Keith Bailey - The King of Fighters ‘98 (MAME): Points in Dream Match that Never Ends

SNK took a swing for the popularity established by Street Fighter II and came pretty close with their King of Fighters series. It never quite hit the stride that Street Fighter did, but King of Fighters was popular enough to have Capcom team up with SNK for a few titles. Our player for this run Keith Bailey shows tenacious stamina as he takes down foe after foe in this endless mode. This run eased out the top spot, crowning Bailey in first on the track at 372,200 points earned. The whole run is a joy to watch, with a ton of clench moments as the health bar doesn’t gain many points after each fight.

While score chasing in a fighting game may not seem like a traditional approach, with the right set of rules and some headstrong players, it makes for a killer score chase.  

Angela Stefanski - Taito Legends - Gladiator (PlayStation 2): Points

Imagine those sections in Zelda II on the NES where Link had to stab low and high to get past an enemy shield. Now, imagine a whole game centered around that with a bit of an on-rails delivery and we have the Taito title Gladiator. Gladiator is a strange game in its setup, but what is crazy is that Angela Stefanski is able to track all of these subtle and quick movements and respond with a solid run. Her final score was 263,300 points, which doubles the score of the last record holder and earns her the top spot.

These arcade collections on consoles can definitely be an economic way to get in some score chasing.

David Kinnick - WarioWare Inc Mega Micro Games Sheriff (Game Boy Advance): Points

While there are many players out there yearning for more 2D adventures starring everyone’s favorite flatulent Nintendo anti-hero, the micro games found in WarioWare Inc have always been something that brings smiles. One of these little games is Sheriff, a shooter that feels a lot like an Atari classic. David Kinnick must have found this game to be appealing enough to see how high a score he could squeeze out of it, eventually leading to a surprise ending. This final bonus secured him 99,999,999 points, because of course the final number would be absurdly high in a Wario game.

It may be a strange thing to need to know, but now because of a player we know this has an end. Interesting how thing like this are discovered in retro titles way later.

Salim Farhat - The Punisher (MAME): Points

There’s something to be said about being able to utterly destroy any game out of the beat-em-up genre. They are notorious for employing cheap tactics to steal more quarters from players, with bosses that have distinctly unfair abilities and attacks. Salim Farhat conquers all of this through sheer determination, trumping the previous record holder with a score of 7,643,800 points on the arcade Capcom title The Punisher.

We reached out to Farhat to see how he accomplished such a feat. We asked him how much time was put into this achievement.

“That's going to be something that I really cannot pinpoint a concrete number at. I've been playing The Punisher ever since I first laid eyes on it; it was actually was my introduction to the Punisher character as a whole. For practicing, that is something else, since I spent over a week just playing the game practically nonstop (I'm talking on the order of 6 to 8 hours a day) for several days. I was already pretty good at the game before, but making a record breaker is an entirely different beast.”

Farhat’s main strategy involved setting himself up early in the run. “I found that it would make it far easier if I got as perfect a score as possible at the start, a strategy I call base building.”

However, this style of play can create a lot of frustration and cause a ton of resets. “The first level boss, Scully, is a rather unpredictable guy overall, especially when he is off-screen and you can't tell if he will come in with a flying kick or just jump towards you. The game itself keeps throwing curveballs at you at every corner, the enemies that drop to attack you serve far more of a hindrance and give Scully a chance to get a hit on you.”

Having a perfect run through as many levels as possible is what makes a massive score attainable. “This is huge since finishing with perfect health is possibly the single most important thing in getting the highest possible score; the perfect health bonus given at the end is enormous compared to everything else.”

For a lot of games, there are videos or guides that help top level players get a foundation. Farhat mostly spent his time learning every piece of The Punisher, what enemies reward for points, and how to maximize each move.

“Video games are all about patterns and strategy, and this game is no exception. I did draw on a lot of experience I had playing the game in the arcades as a kid/teen, plus I have been playing the game on emulation since 2000. But for all that, none of this compared to just how much relearning I had to do since the goal wasn't to casually cruise through the game.”

“The other thing is that I also had to discover techniques to maximize point attainment, since more often than not, just doing things in a straightforward manner will not get you the most points from your actions. If you watch my video, you'll notice I like to do the flash kick as much as I can, the reason for that is that it does give you more points to defeat enemies that way than by simply punching them.”

Finishing The Punisher and seeing that score burning brightly on the screen was something that Farhat will likely never forget. This feeling is what makes challenging games or doing something incredible in a game so addictive, there’s a release of emotion and an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

“When I finally saw my final score and saw that I had beaten the record by a large margin, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. The tension I felt when going through my playthrough was incredible, and the craziest thing is that I plan on doing it again in the next few months.”

“I missed out on 202,000 points that could have solidified my score even further.”

At a recent event, Farhat even got to meet someone special. “I had the good fortune of meeting Gerry Conway, the co-creator of the Punisher, at Montreal Comic Con and I got his autograph with his congratulations for my score on it.”

From here, we will likely see Salim Farhat’s name pop-up again as he has his sights set on another classic beat-em-up title.

“I've wasted no time in immediately getting started on my next record. Alien Vs Predator (the 1994 arcade game) which is proving to be difficult, but I know I will win eventually.”

Bounty of the Week - Mega Man X (SNES) NTSC - Fastest Minimalist Completion

Here pretty soon, Capcom will be releasing the Mega Man X Legacy Collection across all consoles. With Mega Man starting to come back after many years without many games being released and the announcement of Mega Man 11, now is a great time to reminisce in the classic days of Mega Man. To do this, let’s see just how fast we can finish Mega Man X on the SNES on the Minimalist track. The rules are as follows: Any Controller Settings No Passwords Allowed! Special Rules: The Timer begins when you select "Game Start" on the title screen and ends when the final speech box begins to disappear. The "Street Fighter" upgrade [Fireball] is OPTIONAL. You MUST Complete the game or your record/attempt WILL be disqualified!  

Now, because Scoreboard Spotlight is a weekly round up of the latest on Twin Galaxies, these bounties are basically pointing out boards that could use more runs. This means that if you miss the week of the bounty, feel free to take a crack at that score or time anyways. Bounties are a great way to rally our players and a fun way to keep in touch.

Keep scoring high and finishing fast and you just might end up on our next Scoreboard Spotlight!

Check out our previous Scoreboard Spotlight, where William Rosa put in almost a full day into Tapper.







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