Wizard of War new High Score by David Yuen on
January 1, 2005





Posted on January 27, 2005
David Yuen from Illinois in the USA, gets high score on Wizard of War on January 1, 2005 beating the Funspot 2002 world record of John V. Thomas of Chicago. David's World Record High Score is 384,200 points.

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Complete Review below by Robert Mruczek, after game Introduction. Here are the list of high scores by Twin Galaxies: Link Scoreboard: Wizard of Wor Variation: Singles Platform: Arcade Rules: Start Units : 3 Search by Player Name Wizard of Wor Variation: Singles Platform: Arcade Rules: Start Units : 3

Rank % Score Score Player Verification Method 1 100.00 % 384,200 David S Yuen 01/01/2005 Video 2 82.61 % 317,400 John V Thomas 07/19/2002 Referee 3 45.18 % 173,600 Mark Soileau 04/03/2002 Video 4 39.28 % 150,900 James Hussiere 12/19/1982 Referee 5 34.17 % 131,300 Jeffrey J Folejewski 03/02/2002 Video 6 26.34 % 101,200 Mark Longridge 06/06/2001 Referee 7 25.43 % 97,700 Dwayne Richard 06/06/2001 Referee 8 17.15 % 65,900 David Nelson 06/06/2001 Referee 9 16.79 % 64,500 Donald Hayes 06/06/2001 Referee 10 16.48 % 63,300 Jason Wilson 06/06/2001 Referee
Plot of Game: Welcome to the mystical kingdom of Wor! You have been placed in command of an elite squadron of Worriors assigned to the task of outwitting the sinister Wizard of Wor! As you descend further and further into his diabolical dungeons, you will encounter deadly Worlings and maybe even the Wizard himself! Your only weapons are your trusty laser, your radar sanner and your agility and cunning. You will need them all as you attempt to beat the Wizard on his own turf and earn the title of Worlord Supreme! Prepare now, and let the battle begin!


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Manufacturer: Bally Midway Year: 1981 Class: Wide Release Genre: Labyrinth/Maze Type: Videogame
Monitor:
Orientation: Horizontal Type: Raster: Standard Resolution CRT: Color Conversion Class: unique Number of Simultaneous Players: 2 Maximum number of Players: 2 Gameplay: Either Control Panel Layout: Multiple Player Controls: Joystick: 4-way, 8-position (up/up, down/down, left/left, right/right) Buttons: 1 Sound:
Description
One or two players move around a variety of line-drawn mazes shooting the creatures that wander within. Eliminating all of the monsters will advance the players to the next level. Creatures called Worluks and the Wizard Of Wor himself will occasionally appear and these can be shot for bonus points.
Cabinet Information: See photo of cabinet: Link The power supply and PCBs are mounted on a tray that slides forwards and is accessable from the front of the cabinet. The cocktail is a standard Bally Midway cocktail from the era. However, Bally Midway did a very strange thing for this game: the monitor is rotated 90 degrees from how it is normal viewed on the upright (a person playing the upright sees the monitor horizontally oriented; a player sitting at the cocktail sees the monitor vertically oriented). So basically, on the cocktail, you have to play the game sideways! Cheats, Tricks and Bugs NOTE: If anyone can reproduce these tricks/bugs on video tape, please send copy to Waleter Day of http://www.twingalaxies.com for validation. Thank you. Depending on the ROM version of the game you have, you may be able to perform the following play for many hours: During game play, if you are quick enough, with the power switch turn the game off and back on quickly and you will gain back all the players the game can hold: The limit is 16 players per left/right player. If the computer was playing the blue player, it will get back all 16 players. It does not matter which dungeon this is done in. To make doing this easier, you can do the following: clear the dungeon of the worlings, then let the Worluk leave or shoot it. Then as soon as possible, take a shot for the Wizard before he appears. If you hit the Wizard before he appears, you freeze the game. The dungeon walls stay the orange sparkling effect and the sound is stuck on the sound of the players gun firing. Your players can not move but no more worlings or Worluks will appear and neither will the Wizard, so technically you have beat the game?! On old versions of this game, possibly the original ones, you can freeze the game after the Wizard appears/disappears several times. On later versions this procedure has to be done before the Wizard actually appears. And, yes, the computer player can freeze the game also. After freezing the game, turn it off and then back on quickly to regain all of your players as stated above. The left (blue) player can fire faster then the yellow player, so it is easier for the blue player to freeze the game. On old versions of the game this can be done seven or more times. On later versions, this can only be done three or four times. Here are some bugs in this game: When the dungeon counter goes to 0 (100) it will no longer count properly. The last digit will be correct, but the first digit will no longer be accurate. If you are very, very fast with shooting your gun, before the Wizard appears, and you hit the spot exactly where the Wizard was going to show up, you do what is called a pre-freeze, which is quite a spectacular event. Instead of freezing everything and going into the normal sequence, the sound goes crazy, the dungeon flashes black and white several times, but the players can still move and fire their guns. The dungeon then flashes the sparkling effect on the flashing black and white walls, the dungeon flashes a solid orange, then the dungeon flashes a sparkling orange walls. The players stop moving and firing and then the dungeon flashes black and white and the sequence stops. These are by far the most interesting effects that can happen in this game, although this is quite a rare occurance. If you survive to the 17th dungeon, the Wizard appears and stays on the screen for long periods of time. This is not for only part of a second, but around five seconds at a time, which is also quite a sight to see. He fires his lightning bolt every which way, until he kills a player, or a player shoots him in the dungeons that follow. From here, the Wizard's appearance time begins to shorten once again. He stays for long periods of time in the following dungeons: 18th, 43rd, 66th, 91st, 120st, 151st. The Wizard's line of fire is different from that of both players. You can line ng bolts. The players can cancel each others shots and the Wizard of Wor's lightning bolts also. If you align your player up properly and in the right area, the worlings and the Worluk have to push you back/forward into a corridor/space to kill you by shooting you or running you over. This applies to the Wizard also, if he does not shoot you or appear on top of you first. Game Introduction The player controlled characters are called Worriors. The elite monsters called worlings are known respectively as Burwors, Garwors and Thorwors. The bonus monsters are called Worluks and occasionally the Wizard also appears. The game has a variety of mazes, most of which do not have names, but one of the later mazes is called "The Arena" because it has a wide open space between two walls. Another is called "The Pit" because it has no interior walls at all. The mazes all have different patterns. Game Play There are three aspects of the game to look for. Firstly the maze is viewed as such from above, but the player character is not. This presents the appearance of the player literally 'walking' on the walls as if the maze was orientated vertically. Secondly although in two-player mode, both players work together to clear the mazes, but you score points for shooting your partner! Thirdly, shooting the Worluk before it escapes results in the next maze being scored at double points. Sometimes, after you destroy a Worluk, the Wizard will attack and continuously teleport quickly from one part of the maze to another while hurling lightning bolts. You must shoot the Wizard as quickly as you can whenever he makes a brief appearance near you. The joystick has two contacts in each direction; a direction contact and a movement contact. A light tap on the joystick will face you in a certain direction without moving the player. To move you just hold the joystick over in one direction. Technical Shares a great deal of technology with Gorf. For instance, you can place the Gorf RAM/ROM board in the game and see, but not play, the game. The common features include the power supply, board slots, pattern PCB, CPU PCB and RAM PCBs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The PC Industry tries to re-create this original classic, Review below: Link Wizard of Wor is an excellent remake of Midway?s hit arcade game of the same name. The idea: one or two players move around a variety of line-drawn mazes shooting the creatures that wander within. Eliminating all of the monsters will advance the players to the next level. Creatures called Worluks and the Wizard Of Wor himself will occasionally appear and these can be shot for bonus points. The game has a variety of mazes and is played from a bird?s eye view perspective similar to Pac-Man. One of the most fun elements of Wizard of Wor is the backstabbing nature of the 2-player mode (insert Machiavellian chuckle here): although both players work together to clear the mazes, you score points for killing your partner. Another thing that makes the game fun is the many bonus point situations and gameplay variety. For example, if you can shoot the Worluk before it escapes, the next maze will be scored at double points. Although the mazes change from level to level, the monsters remain the same types: blue, wolf-like Burwors are common in the first few levels, while the tough yellow Garwors and red Thorwors roam later mazes. These two monsters can turn invisible, forcing you to keep one eye on the radar at the bottom of the screen to avoid any unpleasant surprises. This PC remake does Midway?s original justice, with smooth graphics and the same addictive gameplay. There are new graphics that aren?t present in the original, as well as a neat doorway system and many more devious mazes. If you enjoy a good arcade game, you definitely must play this faithful remake. Two thumbs up, way up! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twin Galaxies Forums www.twingalaxies.com NEW World Record on "Wizard of Wor" !! Twin Galaxies Forums Forum Index -> Coin-Op Video Games View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message RMRUCZEK TG Board of Directors Location: Brooklyn, NY Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:30 pm Post subject: NEW World Record on "Wizard of Wor" !! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BREAKING NEWS - NEW WORLD RECORD ON "WIZARD OF WOR" (ARCADE) As reported on January 24th, 2005 Link Hello fellow gamers: On January 1st, 2005, millions of people across the globe celebrated the coming of this new year in their own respective ways. Some might have watched a football game. Others might have decided to sleep a little while longer, while a few celebrants may have needed it. And for a select few, the changing of the calendar is not the only cause for celebration. David Yuen, who hails from Illinois in the USA, will always remember that this was the New Year's Day when he set a new classic arcade video game world record on the title "Wizard of Wor", one of the toughest and most challenging titles ever. This Midway classic from 1980 featured synthesized speech identical in tone to what was heard on another Midway classic, "Gorf", and allowed for single and 2-player team attempts. And like "Gorf", "WoW", for short, allowed players a chance to start the game with 3 lives for a single quarter, or 4 more lives for an extra quarter. Not a bad deal !! On single-player, and with three (3) starting lives, David waxed the title for a final score of 384,200 points, reaching Dungeon 31, which happens to be one of the infamous "Pit" stages, the toughest in the game. Total game time was about 27 minutes. Amazingly, David actually broke the current world record of points by John V. Thomas of Chicago twice, first with an attempt that ended in a score of 367,700 points, and then again for an even higher score. "Wizard of Wor" is a game that pits you and your laser weapon against a hoard of fast-moving, invisible monsters which you can only see when they are in the same corridor as you, otherwise you must rely on a "radar" to locate them. Each self enclosed dungeon contains two exits which allow monsters to escape through or sneak up on you from. As you dispatch monsters, more appear. Eventually, after the last one is gone, "Worluk" makes an appearance. Shoot him if you can for big points, and if you do, then the opportunity to get the "Wizard of Wor" comes. He's worth a base 2,500 points, or 5,000 points if you managed to obtain "Double Dungeon Score" after finishing the previous dungeon. The "Wizard" is your trickiest foe. Unrelenting in shooting magical bolts at you, he keeps appearing and disappearing suddenly, trying to catch you off guard, so when he is out, you have to be ultra vigilant. But, I might add, until he and "Worluk" before him appear, the chance exists for a monster to appear right next to you if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, making survival mostly depending on skill, but also on a little bit of luck. The 13th dungeon, and every 6th dungeon thereafter, is known as "The Pit", and is dreaded and feared by all "WoW" players of all skill levels. There are no corridors within which to position yourself safely and limit the chance of an attack from a monster. The entire board is devoid of inside walls. Just the outer walls exist, and the escape corridors, which, I must state, are temporarily unavailable after usage, so they are a limited but strategic tool for survival, at best. Seldom do players live up to this stage, let alone past it on a single game. David, incredibly, completed the 1st and 2nd "Pit" stages (Dungeons 13 and 19) without losing a life !! It would be a safe bet to say that all but the most experienced "WoW" players would need all their starting lives just to finish ONE (1) "Pit" stage, never mind the fact that David survived through three, and ended his game while in the fourth. It is standard policy with Twin Galaxies when recapping a player's performance, all strategies and secrets developed by the player shall not be revealed without the express written consent of the gamer. As the gamer has asked me not to make public his tactics, my recap below will not include tactical information, and will be in my usual "play-by-play" format. Without further ado, here is a recap of David's stellar performance. I'll comment on significant moments in his performance. Afterwards, some closing thoughts. ***************************************** THE PATH TO VICTORY (The time is about 8:20pm, Illinois time. David has just finished his 367K score and starts his next attempt) Dungeon 1 - 900 points The beginning of a single player game in "Wizard of Wor" is I think unique, or at least very rare, compared to other point-based titles from the golden age of arcade gaming. The second player is controlled by the computer, accumulating points of it's own if it hits anything, and if you shoot this computer opponent, and any of it's lives, you are awarded 1,000 points. This tactic is allowed by Twin Galaxies, though it is the gamer's choice whether they take advantage of this in any stage, or not at all. Note that if the computer opponent earns any points, these points are NOT added to the player's recorded score. Additionally, should a monster destroy a computer opponent, then the player has lost the opportunity to earn the 1,000 points for that computer opponent's life. Dungeon 2 - 3,200 points Dungeon 3 - 9,200 points Dungeon 4 - 12,600 points This was the first time I've ever seen the computer opponent shoot down "Worluk" !! Dungeon 5 - 19,200 points Dungeon 6 - 35,800 points The first dungeon in which the "Wizard of Wor" makes his appearance. Dungeon 7 - 52,400 points David's first game death occurs at 39,600 points. "Oh...I gate when they do that !!" he exclaims. In a game like "WoW", anything can happen as it is very unpredictable and challenging. Dungeon 8 - 67,000 points Dungeon 9 - 83,600 points Dungeon 10 - 100,200 points The 100,000 barrier is one that few gamers ever can hope to pass. In fact, before year 2001, the world record was only in the 89K range or so, then later raised to the 113-115K range, until Mark Solieau took it past 150K, followed by John V. Thomas at Funspot who raised it past the 300K barrier in 2002. Dungeon 11 - 111,800 points I found this stage a bit odd. I watched the end of this dungeon several times, and try as I may, I do not see the "Wizard" appear even though "Worluk" was dispatched. Not sure why. Both the "Wizard" and "Worluk" were dispatched in dungeon 10. Also, David loses his second life at 116,400 points. Dungeon 12 - 126,400 points Dungeon 13 - 143,000 points (Pit Number 1) The first "Pit" dungeon, feared by all "WoW" players as if it were the great equalizer in this title...because it is !! No barriers to hide behind. This stage is free-roaming for the most part, although you cannot afford to move that much since the enemies start to converge on you almost immediately. As with all dungeons, your solider starts the dungeon in a holding cell, with a 9 second countdown. You can leave and enter the dungeon at any time within the countdown, and are forced out when it expires. In a stage like "The Pit", experts wait until the optimal moment and then they make their move. Unlike "Asteroids", another classic from that era, where a new life only re-appears when the danger level is minimal, in "WoW" some "Pit" stages begin with the monsters practically right on top of your holding cell, so survivability in this game is not always a given, not even in the opening 2 seconds of this stage. David clears the stage without losing a life, an incredible feat. And although "Worluk" escapes, he nails the "Wizard" for some big points. He comments that he's off to a great start...too bad he lost those two lives earlier. If I surmise from his statement that he had in the past, if even just once, lasted through stage 13 without the loss of a life, then since he hit 384K this game with two lives lost this early in the game, I've got to believe that someday we will receive a submission in the 400K range, either from David or one of the previous world champions. But that is speculative, as anything can happen in a game of "WoW", including losing two, three, even all your lives in a single "Pit" dungeon. Dungeon 14 - 159,600 points Dungeon 15 - 176,200 points Dungeon 16 - 192,800 points Dungeon 17 - 209,400 points Dungeon 18 - 221,000 points David has a near-death experience at 210K with multiple enemies coming from all angles in a wide open area. He somewhow survives and audibly exclaims his relief. Additionally, he almost gets overrun by "Worluk". Dungeon 19 - 235,600 points (Pit Number 2) The second "Pit" stage, and again, David manages to pull through unscathed. "Whoah...THAT was close !!" was all he had to say as things got very hairy at one point. Dungeon 20 - 252,200 points DUngeon 21 - 261,900 points "That was weird !!"...this is what David had to say based on "Worluk's" movement pattern and eventual escape. David had no chance at nailing him this time. Dungeon 22 - 270,100 points Dungeon 23 - 286,700 points Dungeon 24 - 303,300 points The 300K barrier !! Only one other player is registered as officially reaching this point. Dungeon 25 - 317,900 points (Pit Number Three) Well, David managed to last through two "Pit" stages without a scratch, but wasn't able to pull off a three-peat. The enemies came fast and furious, and David lost his third life at 307,100 points early into the stage. But he was unphased, calm and collected, as he polished off the rest of "The Pit" and finished with 317,900 points, very close to the current world record score by John V. Thomas, and not too far off from his previously completed performance of 367K. Dungeon 26 - 327,600 points "Oh man...that was quite a sandwich !!" David was literally surrounded by enemies from all sides and pulled off a remarkable escape, turning the tables on his monster opponents, and surviving to tell the tale. He did not manage to pull off shooting "Worluk" or the "Wizard", however, thus the next dungeon is only worth single-value points. That's another aspect of "WoW" that sets it apart from many point-based titles...one stage's actions determine the following stage's point valuations, which can actually decrease depending on your action or inaction from the previous stage. Dungeon 27 - 335,800 points "Whew !!" David says as he survives another tough stage and manages to dispatch both "Worluk" and the "Wizard", raising the next stage point values back to double again. Dungeon 28 - 352,400 points "Oh man, that was close !!...David survives another stage unscathed as he is rapidly approaching his personal best. And since he managed to nail both "Worluk" and the "Wizard" again, he has a chance of passing that mark in the very next dungeon. Dungeon 29 - 369,000 points Disaster strikes at 356,400 points. "Oh, NO WAY !! It appeared right next to me. You've GOTTA be kidding !! That is SO unfair !!" I believe that the comments tell the whole story. As I stated earlier, in "WoW", as you dispatch enemies, more appear and if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, well, anything can happen. The sole consolations were that both bosses were dispatched, so the following dungeon would be worth double points, plus, more importantly, David was at a new personal best...AND with a life in reserve. Time to put his game-face on and see how far he can carry this new world record and personal best. Dungeon 30 - 383,600 points The stage was played cautiously, yet with the same basic strategy that carried him thus far. "Worluk" managed to escape, but he nailed the "Wizard" for a cool 5,000 points. But now, a "do or die" moment was coming up. Dungeon 31..."The Pit". Dungeon 31 - 384,200 points "OK...let's see if I can get through the Pit". That was at the beginning of the stage. "Oh, come on...give me a shot !!" That was immediately thereafter. As I mentioned earlier, in "WoW" a player's soldier is in a holding cell for a countdown of 9 seconds during which, at any time, a player can voluntarily emerge, or at the end of the countdown the player emerges by default. David had almost no chance this stage. No matter how good the "WoW" player, a "Pit" dungeon is the great equalizer, a classic "do or die" moment in video gaming, in the truest sense, not unlike the feared brain waves in "Robotron", another iconic title from that era. "That's not bad...it's better than my previous score" was what he said. Time of completion, 8:50pm. Not at all bad for a half-hour's work !! After zooming in on the final scores, David manages a brief "Hello" as he pokes his head into the range of the camera. I hear him commenting on taking a Polaroid of the final score screen, and then says the tape is being shut off. ***************************************** AFTERTHOUGHTS This score came to me as almost a total surprise. I was unaware of who in the gaming community was trying to chip away at the FUnspot 2002 world record. I had not heard from either of the previous top two players since late 2002, and the number of "WoW" players at the 150K+ skillset, let alone the 200K+ and 300K+ skillsets, were far and few inbetween. Watching the tail-end of John V. Thomas' 2-player team world record with Josh Powell in 2002, it was clear that much higher was possible as John kept his last life going for what seemed like 200K easily, maybe even 300K. So I knew that higher yet was still do-able. But as with classic "Galaxian", a shoot-em-up from Midway where the world record was recently established as 399K even though a score of 300K+ on the 1st ship was achieved as part of the former world record, anything can happen in a game, either at the every beginning, middle or end, so do-able or not, until it was officially accomplished by someone, it was just a happy thought. With his 384,200 point performance on "Wizard of Wor", David now owns one of most prestigious and respected video game world record titles of all time. On behalf of the staff of Twin Galaxies, and our founder and chief scorekeeper, Walter Day, we congratulation David Yuen as the new world champion at the classic arcade game "Wizard of Wor". This awesome performance is definitely one for the books. Robert Mruczek _________________ Robert T Mruczek Twin Galaxies - Editor and Chief referee Star Wars classic arcade marathon champion rmruczek@doremus.com (work E-MAIL)
Thank you,
Paul Dean, spy hunter champion, June 28, 1985
www.spyhunter007.com








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