After many failed attempts, I finally did it! A perfect score on Pitfall II for the Atari 5200...504,000 points!
As you may know, the 5200 version has a second maze that you enter, once you've completed the first maze and captured Quickclaw.
The perfect score in the first maze is 199,000 points. This score will always be displayed at the top left of the screen. Once you begin the second maze, a second score is displayed at the top right of the screen (starting at 199,000)
From that point, as you accumulate points, those points are added to the new score. The second maze has a maximum of 305,000 points. Thus, a perfect score will end up 504,000 points, the total scores of both mazes.
The second maze is very difficult to complete without losing points. The route is not as straightforward as the first maze, and took me awhile to determine where everything was, and then to find the best route to get everything, minimizing the risks.
Also, there are different, and more difficult, enemies to deal with. The ones that got me the most were the jumping frogs that follow you across the screen. Also, most of the treasures are guarded by the creatures, so you have to deal with one of them just about every time you find a treasure!
As for time, there is no built in game clock, but the timer on my VCR indicated that it took me 11:43 to reach Quickclaw in the first maze, and 21:38 to reach the "Rope Charmer" in the second maze. So in all, the game took 33 minutes and 21 seconds to complete.
I'm curious to know how many other people have maxxed the score in this one? One thing is for sure, when I last spoke to Todd Rogers about it, he admitted that he has not done it!
Here's the screenshot that I posted on AtariAge, where I originally posted about my quest to max this one.
http://www.atariage.com/forums/index...=post&id=58929