NES Mario one question

[billymonk]

In world 3-1 on Mario one, you can get 100+ free men if you continuously jump on the last turtle of the level, as it bounces against the stairs.

So question is: is it +EV or -EV to purposely die if you're not able to do it first time through, so you get another chance?

Assume you don't know how many times it will take you to do it. Sometimes you'll do it first time, sometimes second time, sometimes not at all. Also assume 5 men when you get to the point the first time.

If you do it, your set and will beat the game for sure. If you try to many times, each time you die your chance of beating the game goes down. If you just leave it as is, 50/50 you beat the game.

Thanks,

Billy

[GuyOnTilt]

If your goal is just to beat the game, what are you doing in W3 to being with?

GoT

[housenuts]

this play is very -ev. first off you only need 1 life to beat the game. second off by warping to 3-1 instead of 4-1 you have to play an additional 4 levels to beat the game which takes alot more time which is of course -ev.

you should be able to beat the game without this. you can also get the 1-ups in 1-1, 1-2, 4-1, 4-2 (not sure where this one is, it might be after the warp), 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3 (not sure where this one is either)
that's an additional 5 lives for sure. maybe 7. if you can't beat the game with that many i'd suggest giving up.

[billymonk]

[ QUOTE ]
If your goal is just to beat the game, what are you doing in W3 to being with?

GoT

[/ QUOTE ]

No warping allowed. You need to play all the levels for whatever reason you want, just so long as you don't warp.

[billymonk]

[ QUOTE ]
this play is very -ev. first off you only need 1 life to beat the game. second off by warping to 3-1 instead of 4-1 you have to play an additional 4 levels to beat the game which takes alot more time which is of course -ev.

you should be able to beat the game without this. you can also get the 1-ups in 1-1, 1-2, 4-1, 4-2 (not sure where this one is, it might be after the warp), 8-1, 8-2, and 8-3 (not sure where this one is either)
that's an additional 5 lives for sure. maybe 7. if you can't beat the game with that many i'd suggest giving up.

[/ QUOTE ]

Any other free men you get don't matter, you're still only a 50% chance to beat the game for this question.

[smiely]

[ QUOTE ]
In world 3-1 on Mario one, you can get 100+ free men if you continuously jump on the last turtle of the level, as it bounces against the stairs.


[/ QUOTE ]

I thought you can only top off at 99 lives. Or am I misremembering?

At any rate, even playing through all the levels, you probably wouldn't need more than 10-15 lives total, which you can accumulate easily with 1-ups, and every time you get 100 coins.

[housenuts]

i'd say i could pass this game with 2 lives without warping. probably with just 1 life if i practiced twice through.


to answer your question though you need to know the avg. amount of times it would take you to do this. i would say you should die on purpose if you don't do it though.

[housenuts]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought you can only top off at 99 lives. Or am I misremembering?

[/ QUOTE ]
you can get 128. once you get another one the game reads it as -127 thus Game Over

[billymonk]

[ QUOTE ]

I thought you can only top off at 99 lives. Or am I misremembering?

At any rate, even playing through all the levels, you probably wouldn't need more than 10-15 lives total, which you can accumulate easily with 1-ups, and every time you get 100 coins.

[/ QUOTE ]

Once you get to a certain point, your number of lives
becomes symbols. In Super Mario allstars I think it tops off at 99.

And it doesn't matter about the other free men. Even though I know thats ridiculous. And also, getting coins takes to long.

[BusterStacks]

I can do this whole game in less than 3 lives. So no, don't die, just get better.

[housenuts]

i think it's after 9 your lives become a symbol. namely, a crown followed by a letter

[jimdmcevoy]

This should be in the Small Stakes Forum

[billymonk]

[ QUOTE ]
once you get another one the game reads it as -127 thus Game Over

[/ QUOTE ]

Yah, don't get anymore, all will be lost. And 128 does sound right, although I was thinking 126. Since I started playing it for regular NES as opposed to SNES I haven't been able to do it. Moreover, the game is very easily beatable with one man.

[housenuts]

i hate playing this game on SNES. it doesn't feel right.

[billymonk]

[ QUOTE ]
I can do this whole game in less than 3 lives. So no, don't die, just get better.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can beat it, it's actually the only game I play so I've learned to play it well.
Just wondering what people would do in this situation.

[billymonk]

[ QUOTE ]
i hate playing this game on SNES. it doesn't feel right.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. I do like the nicer graphics though. But the NES controller just feels so much nicer and simpler.

[housenuts]

if i recall correctly when he jumps up and breaks bricks in SNES he really jumps right through them much higher. it looks alot different than it looks on NES.

for your question i would die. i think you have to have at least a 33% success rate of getting the 100+ lives. any less and you're just plain tar at the game.

that means in 5 lives there is only a 13% chance you won't get it. or a 87% chance you will get it and pass the game.

actually it's a 20% chance you won't get it. because if you don't get it and decide to kill yourself you'll only have 4 lives left. and because you didn't get it your first time doesn't change your odds to get it the next time. so by doing this you have an 80% chance of passing the game.

slightly higher than that though because if you don't get it your last time you won't kill yourself. which means you'll have 1 life left to still try to pass the game.

[billymonk]

[ QUOTE ]
if i recall correctly when he jumps up and breaks bricks in SNES he really jumps right through them much higher. it looks alot different than it looks on NES.

for your question i would die. i think you have to have at least a 33% success rate of getting the 100+ lives. any less and you're just plain tar at the game.

that means in 5 lives there is only a 13% chance you won't get it. or a 87% chance you will get it and pass the game.

actually it's a 20% chance you won't get it. because if you don't get it and decide to kill yourself you'll only have 4 lives left. and because you didn't get it your first time doesn't change your odds to get it the next time. so by doing this you have an 80% chance of passing the game.

slightly higher than that though because if you don't get it your last time you won't kill yourself. which means you'll have 1 life left to still try to pass the game.

[/ QUOTE ]

I like it.

[housenuts]

but it really depends on your change of success on 3-1. maybe you should start recording your next 100 hands and find your W$SD%.

[housenuts]

using the same principles you could find out what minimum success rate you need to make this a worthwhile venture. i'm too busy and have an hour to finish a paper or i will go nuts.

[Luzion]

If you get too many lives, the numbers become symbols like Crown, or Fire. Its hard to tell how many lives is too much but if you get too many lives its as good as 0. The game will crash or just say Game Over if you die once.

[billymonk]

[ QUOTE ]
If you get too many lives, the numbers become symbols like Crown, or Fire. Its hard to tell how many lives is too much but if you get too many lives its as good as 0. The game will crash or just say Game Over if you die once.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pretend that's not the case for this question.