As virtually any other game in the platform genre, Kid Chameleon keeps the Score for any game. (Nevertheless, notice that KC does not record hiscores.) Aiming for the highest score is a good way to keep the game challenging once you have mastered its many levels.
The Point of Points
Every 50,000 points you get a free extra life, which you will probably need. Other than this, taking the 100,000 points trip, and possibly for honor and respect, aiming for high scores is just a matter of challenge.
Adding Up Points
There is no way to increase your score during the levels except for the highly rare 10000 points prize. The main way to get score is instead through bonuses, awarded for how well you handled the level. Perhaps for these two reasons, your score is not shown through most of the gameplay, except for the level finish animation after you touch a flag. (If you exit the level via a teleporter, you lose all the bonuses you would otherwise have been rewarded.)
In the order they are shown, the bonuses are:
Speed Bonus
If you get under the stage's predefined time limit, you get 10,000 points. The bonus is accompanied by a message reading Under XX seconds! The time limit for each level is not officially stated anywhere, and the only way to find out what it is is to beat it. (Or check this Wiki.)
The shortest time allowed to complete a level is 15 seconds in The Caged Beasts (Unless you want to include The Forbidden Tombs, or flagless levels, which are actually 0 seconds).
Path Bonus
The instruction booklet accompanying the original Sega cartridge mistakenly described Path Bonus as the extra score awarded for solving a level through the fastest way. Actually, the Path Bonus is rewarded in specific levels where the flag is located in an area that is either hidden or challenging to get to.
Some levels reward the Path Bonus because of the secretive nature of the level. For instance, The Pinnacle is the first level in the game to give an extra bonus of 10,000 points, because it is a secret level (accessible only through a teleporter in Dragonspike) and represents a long detour from the main path (you could have taken the flag in Dragonspike for Stormwalk Mountain, and instead you're taking the route through Pinnacle -> Hidden Canyon -> Stormwalk Mountain.)
In Stage 4, all levels offer a 25,000 points path bonus. The difficulty to collect it relies on the fact that the flag is very well hidden in all these levels.
The highest Path Bonus in the game is that of Frosty Doom, in Stage 3: 50,000 points (= Extra Life) for the brave man who will go on to struggle his way through Bloody Swamp.
"No Prize" Bonus
Not picking up any prizes such as helmets, diamonds or clocks will net you 5,000 points. Opening the prize block to see what's inside without picking up the prize is allowed. An ankh or coin is a very good reason not to get this bonus.
"No Hit" Bonus
Not taking any hits during the level will also earn you 5,000 points.
Time Bonus
Every minute remaining on the clock gives you 1,000 points and every second gives 10 points. In the picture above, the remaining time on the clock was therefore 2:41. Clocks are essentially worth 3,000 points.
Tips on Highscoring
- Go for the flag , whenever there is one.
- Don't bother killing any enemies , unless safety dictates, to avoid losing the "No Hit" Bonus. You're working for free. And they're part of the ecosystem.
- Try to collect prizes only in levels that do not have a flag, are impossible to complete without collecting prizes, or have at least two clocks (see bullets 6 & 7).
- When you do collect prizes , Cyclone and Skycutter are the best helmets for dashing through a level before your enemies even know what buzzed past them.
- Go for the Speed Bonus in the fastest time possible in as many levels as you can.
- If you know there is more than one clock in the level and you know for sure wherethey are, go get them. The No Prize bonus is only 5,000 points. Two clocks equal 6,000 points.
- Be careful to avoid the strange time bonus glitch. If you collect more than three time clocks to give you 9,000+ points, the game will automtically erase any speed bonus of 10,000 points, no matter how fast you finished the level. The only exception is Bagel Brothers, where the speed bonus is so high (220 seconds) that you can collect the three time clocks and still get a speed bonus.
- Take the path less traveled and play the levels that have 10,000-point blocks or really high Path Bonuses. The Path Bonus on one flag could be far greater than the total bonuses of two flags!
- Get lots of extra lives, as you may need them if you want to redo a level until you get a desired score.
- Finally, for the most important tip of all, do the 100,000-point trip! It will start you off on the Woods of Despair with 1,000,001 points!
Current RTA World Record Highscores
This is a list of the top 50 current real-time highscores for Kid Chameleon. If you wish to submit a score here, it must adhere to the rules.
- Cheating includes ANY save feature, TAS, game genie, code modification, etc.
- Cheating does not include the Infinite Lives or Helmet Reset glitches.
Here's a list of acceptable types of proof:
- A full video of the run, from any available platform or even emulator, are acceptable.
- For Sega Genesis only: one image or video that contains both the score and the console, which shows the cartridge plugged in and with no game genie attached.
- A screenshot clearly showing it was done on a platform that does not have a save feature (ex. Sega Smash Pack 2, Blaze Handheld, etc.)
- A screenshot from gameplay done on Retro Uprising
Click "Expand" to view the rules.
| High Score | No 100K Trip High Score | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1,817,001 by TheWinslinator | 908,730 by Eep386 |
| 2 | 1,814,291 by Kitchengun | 884,210 by William Link |
| 3 | 1,728,111 by Skar800 | 817,740 by seanmegrey01 |
| 4 | 1,686,501 by Lord Molyb | 743,060 by TheWinslinator |
| 5 | 1,580,081 by Tyadran | 742,500 by Tyadran |
| 6 | 1,503,671 by jirka waggon | 741,530 by gcarrillo |
| 7 | 1,391,321 by BluSlider | 738,360 by peaches |
| 8 | 1,356,711 by peaches | 731,890 by Spellzapp |
| 9 | 1,355,411 by Chubbus | 727,480 by Midboss |
| 10 | 1,352,021 by Spellzapp | 723,910 by SpiderPepper |
| 11 | 1,324,301 by mostmol | 721,150 by Neskamikaze |
| 12 | 1,306,621 by TheNumberScott | 721,040 by Rhode2nowere |
| 13 | 1,291,131 by Cogumelando | 720,420 by Chubbus |
| 14 | 1,264,661 by FinalCheetah | 676,590 by Shazers |
| 15 | 1,242,021 by QuanticBlob | 663,930 by TheNumberScott |
| 16 | 1,118,301 by TRB_MetroidTeam | 648,560 by BluSlider |
| 17 | 1,032,321 by number juan | 638,680 by NinjaZombie0 |
| 18 | 1,003,191 by Barra | 625,050 by mostmol |
| 19 | 1,000,001 by:
SEGAxGENESIS 1 GuidoAnchovies 2 Power Up 3 Zeikier 4 thenovadeus 5 erhanpurple 6 |
564,940 by MasterJim87 |
| 20 | 548,080 by GuidoAnchovies | |
| 21 | 507,410 by bpblu | |
| 22 | 440,480 by GarotaRetrô | |
| 23 | 439,130 by ralphdouglas | |
| 24 | 419,030 by Benobot | |
| 25 | 372,380 by Joe | |
| 26 | 327,470 by Sakewcw | |
| 27 | 283,460 by styxofficiel | |
| 28 | 259,100 by Sixteen-Bit Heroes | |
| 29 | 254,730 by Casual Streamer | |
| 30 | 229,800 by Teddy Rubskin | |
| 31 | 194,010 by Omundootaku Jim Takezo | |
| 32 | 181,950 by SSGmaster | |
| 33 | 175,720 by KD Games | |
| 34 | 163,110 by FromTheDPAD | |
| 35 | 160,350 by Melee Kirby | |
| 36 | 136,410 by LimePopsicle | |
| 37 | 125,250 by wolfman24 | |
| 38 | 109,240 by CandyOfficial FS | |
| 39 | 106,370 by TheOscuroBlack | |
| 40 | 104,890 by 420710 | |
| 41 | 101,920 by HDLJ1991 | |
| 42 | 99,850 by llikspir | |
| 43 | 91,880 by Natek101 | |
| 44 | 91,330 by PrinceRallis | |
| 45 | 87,060 by captiongoosebut | |
| 46 | 84,770 by Clawnoob | |
| 47 | 83,040 by LD Styles | |
| 48 | 82,560 by Bertrudor | |
| 49 | 81,700 by GayStripper110 | |
| 50 | 81,000 by Emollik |
Click "Expand" for top 50