Back in 2011 - ancient history in Donkey Kong terms - I remember going back and forth with Jeff for the no-hammer record on Donkey Kong Japan (which, by the way, I still consider the superior version of DK for the no-hammer variant, since all the extra barrel boards in the US version mostly just get in the way of the good stuff).
The Tudose was the reigning champion of Japan no-hammer from January to October of that year, when Jeff took the title from him. One month later, I squeaked by Jeff by 5K or so, in a game that ended on L15 rivets, which was considered a pretty strong achievement in those days (
). I quickly ordered a certificate because, first, I felt like this was likely to be the only DK-related record I would ever hold for any amount of time that wasn't some made-up nonsense (
), and, second, because I knew Jeff would come right back for it!
Sure enough, he reclaimed the record just a few weeks later, in a game that beat me by just about as much as I'd beaten him, so I worked on it here and there. But then, a few months after this, before I was able to take back #1, Jeff dropped a bomb, with a game that ended on L21,
one rivet away from the kill screen.
I said "wow, I don't think I can beat that." I tried for a bit, but then I put no-hammer aside and returned to standard play. As for Jeff, nobody gives up after getting that close, so it was clearly only a matter of time until Jeff would eventually get a NH killscreen, and here we are at last!
Nowadays, my no-hammer skillz are very seriously rusty, and my motivation even rustier, but holding 1st on an "official" TG DK track, even if for such a brief time, and having active competition, is one of my fondest CAG memories.
Anyway, pretty awesome that there's now an arcade NH killscreen, a new world record, and that it happened during a tournament!
