I decided to an analysis of 100 of my men in Donkey Kong

[homerwannabee]

OK, after fooling around with two hammers, and also experimenting with the conveyor hammer, I think I am going to go for a modified approach.  I won't do two hammer, but I will now do Pie factory hammer when I can't get a free pass, and I will start to collect the prizes on level 2, and 3 for the elevator stages, and also jump one extra time when the timer hits zero.  I used to do it twice, but now I see it is perfectly safe to jump 3 times on the level 5+ Rivets.  I suspect that over the long run of a game I can get an extra 20,000 points.  Which means I could probably hit 885K or so just doing that alone.  Enough to focus on getting the killscreen in my opinion.

[stella_blue]

OK, after fooling around with two hammers, and also experimenting with the conveyor hammer, I think I am going to go for a modified approach.  I won't do two hammer, but I will now do Pie factory hammer when I can't get a free pass, and I will start to collect the prizes on level 2, and 3 for the elevator stages, and also jump one extra time when the timer hits zero.  I used to do it twice, but now I see it is perfectly safe to jump 3 times on the level 5+ Rivets.  I suspect that over the long run of a game I can get an extra 20,000 points.  Which means I could probably hit 885K or so just doing that alone.  Enough to focus on getting the killscreen in my opinion.

It's possible to jump 4 times on any rivet stage, and not suffer a death due to "timing out".  In fact, if the timer reaches 000 during your first jump, you can still squeeze in 4 more, for a total of 5.

[hchien]

I will now do Pie factory hammer when I can't get a free pass

You should probably be doing this anyway, even when running boards.  Vincent Lemay might tell you otherwise.  Ignore him unless you want an 800K first killscreen. 

[lifereboot]

It's possible to jump 4 times on any rivet stage, and not suffer a death due to "timing out".

Just make sure you're in the air when you remove the last rivet.  The timeout death only occurs when you're on the ground.

Back when I was still learning on my cocktail cabinet, I had my PB game of 442k end stupidly when I tried to walk to the rivet after 4 jumps, killing me in the most embarrassing way possible.  Pull that last rivet out with a jumping finish!

[stella_blue]

Just make sure you're in the air when you remove the last rivet.  The timeout death only occurs when you're on the ground.

Back when I was still learning on my cocktail cabinet, I had my PB game of 442k end stupidly when I tried to walk to the rivet after 4 jumps, killing me in the most embarrassing way possible.  Pull that last rivet out with a jumping finish!

Excellent point, Shaun.  I should have mentioned that.

[Bliss1083]

I find also if you pulled the top rivet and have the rivet below waiting to be pulled I usually do 2 jumps after time has expired then jet down the ladder and hope to avoid the fireball that was waiting on the other side. I leave the bottom rivet in most times to increase my leach time if the fireball goes up the other ladder.

[homerwannabee]

Can someone explain why you are allowed to do 4 to 5 jumps?  I mean in the first level the most you can do is 5 jumps, and time goes 2 and half times slower.  So shouldn't it be 2 or 3 jumps in regards to the clock?  I don't get this.

[xelnia]

The extra time at "000" is the same on every board and every level (with the exception of barrel boards, I believe).

Once the timer hits 000 you have 257 frames with which you can enter inputs. A full jump cycle lasts 48 frames. This means you can actually jump 6 times (5 leech + 1 rivet clear) if you start exactly at 000 and every jump is perfectly timed. The 6th jump would occur 240 frames into the 257 frame window, so as long as you're in the air and clearing the rivet you're fine.

[homerwannabee]

The extra time at "000" is the same on every board and every level (with the exception of barrel boards, I believe).

Once the timer hits 000 you have 257 frames with which you can enter inputs. A full jump cycle lasts 48 frames. This means you can actually jump 6 times (5 leech + 1 rivet clear) if you start exactly at 000 and every jump is perfectly timed. The 6th jump would occur 240 frames into the 257 frame window, so as long as you're in the air and clearing the rivet you're fine.

OK, than, I have been leaving a lot of points on the table!  Good to know!

[homerwannabee]

OK, it's been awhile, but I am back at it.  Did another 100 man review.  My style has changed since last time.  OK, I have gotten better on what I consider the most important stage.  The elevator stage.    I now pick up the two left prizes, and my success rate is up.   OK, I guess it's time for the stats.

I passed 930 out of 1030 boards.  Not a record, but still almost back to where I was when I pulled off my near killscreen.

I passed 424 out of 462 barrel boards for a 91.77% success rate.  Close to a record!
I passed 183 out of 215 rivet boards for a 85.11% success rate.  This was my downfall.  The rivets can be streaky. This run they were going against me hard.  I had a couple of angry moments thinking "How is it possible that the rivets are screwing me over so badly?"  I don't know, but they were.
I passed 171 out of 182 elevator boards for a 93.95% success rate.  A new record!  The elevators are no longer the issue for me.
I passed 183 out of 215 pie factory boards for an 88.88% success rate.  I am happy with this rate as well.

Also

I reached level 12 four times.  A new personal record!
I reached level 11 five times.  A new personal record!
I reached level 10 eight times.  A new personal record!
I reached level eight 16 times.  A new personal record!
I reached level seven 18 times.  A new personal record!

This time I didn't have any big breakout games, but I still saw marked improvement, and if I can get the rivets back in line, getting a killscreen would not be so hard.