When to get the spray?

[QuikThumbs]

Having got 200,000+ on regular Donkey Kong, and not caring much for Junior, I am trying to get 100,000 on number 3. So far my strategy is to beat Stage One and snag the Spray right at the end. Next, I just try tobatayvalive and then grab the Speay at my first opportunity.

To you pros, is there a better strategy? Many people like to grab it on Stage One, but I am unsure if that makes a difference.

[homerwannabee]

 I'd advice for new players to get the spray on the second board. It will take you to the forth. If you die on the forth get the spray on the 5th.
In fact ALWAYS get the spray on the gold board. Forget getting it on the blue or gray boards.

[gstrain]

I'd advice for new players to get the spray on the second board. It will take you to the forth. If you die on the forth get the spray on the 5th.
In fact ALWAYS get the spray on the gold board. Forget getting it on the blue or gray boards.

This is good advice.  To elaborate a bit, the "correct' strategy is to get the spray on the gold board.  That is the board with the worms where you MUST push DK to the top to advance, instead of being able to kill all flying bugs to finish the level like you can on the other boards.  If you take the spray on the gold board you can use it to finish the second half of the board by easily pushing Kong to the top ,and also to immediately clear the next board as well.  This allows you to finish two out of the three boards of a cycle with the super spray and very little risk. 

An "easy" strategy for getting a million points involves exploiting exactly this approach.  You die on the 2nd board of the cycle (the one with the broken middle platform), then take the super spray on the next board (gold board), use it to push Kong to the top, and that same super spray will last long enough for you to also finish the next board by immediately pushing Kong to the top.  Then you're back on the 2nd board of the cycle and repeat the same thing.  You'll score around 60K per cycle doing this and you earn an extra life every 30K.  So if you can learn to die on average only twice per cycle you can make it to 1M.  With this approach if you get to the end of the 2nd board of the cycle without having died already, INTENTIONALLY SUICIDE with one enemy left.  This way the super spray resets and is available on the next board, and you can also quickly kill that last enemy on your next life and maximize your timer bonus.

Playing with this approach makes scores of 1M pretty easy on marathon settings, and even 2M possible.  However after 1M you stop earning extra lives so to get past about 2M and reach the RBS (repetitive blue screen) you'll need to learn to not rely on the super spray as much and be able to clear all 3 board types without it fairly consistently. 

-George

[QuikThumbs]

Thanks for the tips! I'm sure my High Score will go up now.
Practicing on the NES for 30 years was also helpful, despite the differences.