Board 131: Kanga Crossing

This picture shows an Australian outback scene. A road runs through the desert beneath some overhanging rocks. Three kangaroos can be seen on the road and a kangaroo warning sign stands in the foreground.

Level 1 (Clear 30 red pegs from 91 total - Pro target 425k)

The first design follows some of the lines of the picture. It uses the kangaroo in the foreground, the road, the roadsign and the rock formations.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 303,650

• Not the best first attempt. I still had quite a lot of red pegs left at the end. I needed more catches.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 465,960

• Just one red peg left that time, and enough points for pro. Just one more catch would have done it.

Attempt #3 - No power ups. Score: 378,700

• Just two catches that time. It's very difficult to judge catches through the maze of pegs and it doesn't even seem to get much easier in the endgame. I'd better add a laser ball or I could be here for a while.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball. Score: 855,240 

• It took a couple of shots to get through to the yellow peg, but the laser ball worked well and catches became much easier after that. I took a total clearance.

Level 2 (Clear 25 red pegs from 127 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 450k)

The second design is of a couple of boomerangs with a single line of round pegs wiggling it's way between them.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 614,450 

• It didn't look likely when I was down to three balls and there were still 10 red pegs left hidden in a sea of blues. I managed to find a shot that dropped through the design and took out most of them in one go, and that made all the difference.

Level 3 (Clear 30 red pegs from 90 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 425k)

The third design mimics the bare trees in the picture. There in one on each side, with a row of diamond-shaped pegs along the bottom.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 435,300 

• I needed to rack up a few extra bonuses at the end before I cleared the last of the red pegs, but I had a few balls in hand to do it with so it wasn't a problem.

Level 4 (Clear 30 red pegs from 159 total, with only 9 balls - Pro target 400k)

The fourth design features a map of Australia made up of round pegs. With the dozen diamond-shaped pegs down the sides, that's a whopping 159 pegs. That's by far the most pegs seen on any level in HotShot history, beating the previous record of 151 for Copper Waterworks #5/#10.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 250,610

• Five red pegs left. This is going to need a laser ball.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 275,370

• Two red pegs left. My standard laser ball path was useless - I'll need to find a better one.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 498,410 

• I got onto the yellow peg straight away this time. I picked a new path for the laser ball which was much more effective. After that it wasn't really in doubt.

Level 5 (Clear 25 red pegs from 113 total, with only 8 balls - Pro target 425k)

The fifth and final design is of a diamond-shape, just like the kangaroo crossing sign. Two concentric diamonds sit in the middle, while two more partial diamonds lie further out.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 359,620

• Three or four red pegs left. But I don't think I made best use of the angles. Certainly worth another try.

Attempt #2 - No power ups. Score: 280,990

• Just one red peg left, but a low score. I'll add a laser ball. That should make life a lot easier.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball. Score: 712,730 

• It took several balls to get to the yellow peg, and the laser ball could have been better. However, once I'd got rid of the awkward pegs, the catches became quite sinple and I took a total clearance.

Level 6 (Clear 35 red pegs from 127 total, with only 7 balls - Pro target 650k)

The same design as level 2, but with 10 more red pegs, two less balls, and 200k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - No power ups. Score: 248,160

• Quite a lot of red pegs left. I think this will need a laser ball.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball. Score: 1,141,940 

• A laser ball can do huge damage to this level, because of the way the pegs are condensed into tight curved patterns. It took a few balls to get through to the yellow peg, but once I did there was no stopping me. I should have had a full clearance, but an unexpected ricochet one ball too early took out the last red peg when I still had four or five balls in hand.

Level 7 (Clear 40 red pegs from 91 total, with only 7 balls - Pro target 750k)

The same design as level 1, but with 10 more red pegs, three less balls, and 325k on the pro target.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 782,920 

• I struggled with this layout first time around, so there seemed little point in trying it without power ups. I used a laser ball, and that made it a lot easier. I missed out on a total clearance by just one peg.

Level 8 (Clear ALL pegs - 25 red and 65 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 600k)

The same design as level 3, but with 5 less pegs, 175k on the pro target, and a total clearanc now needed.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 829,800 

• There were quite a few lucky catches in this one, as well as a lot that were played for.

Level 9 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 78 blue, with only 8 balls - Pro target 625k)

The same design as level 5, but with 10 more red pegs, 200k on the pro target and a total clearance now required.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 670,670 

• This one was touch and go towards the end. I needed a reasonable result from the final buckets, but I got 110k which was enough.

Level 10 (Clear ALL pegs - 35 red and 124 blue, with only 7 balls - Pro target 725k)

The same design as level 4, but with 5 more red pegs, two less balls, 325k on the pro target and a total clearance now needed.

Attempt #1 - Laser Ball. Score: 241,970

• Only a 62% clearance, so quite a terrible effort. The yellow peg was a nightmare to get to, and I just couldn't get the ball to drop through the pattern. It kept bouncing off to the side. I think I'm going to need a Big Bounce as well.

Attempt #2 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 337,260

• Up to a 79% clearance with both power ups in play, so still quite a long way short.

Attempt #3 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 524,860

• A 90% clearance that time, so I'm getting closer. I'm going to need to be on top catching form to beat this one.

Attempt #4 - Laser Ball & Big Bounce. Score: 485,840

• Back down to 82% clearance. The catches weren't working for me and I didn't get much luck.

Attempt #5 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 690,380

• 89% that time, but my best score so far. The Grenade Ball worked quite well as an alternative to the Big Bounce as the pegs are packed quite tightly together.

Attempt #6 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 489,190

• 87% clearance. I used to think I was good at taking catches of round pegs, but clearly I'm not as good as I thought I was.

Attempt #7 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 308,390

• Only 79% clearance. Neither power up worked particularly well.

Attempt #8 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 628,570

• 87% clearance. It felt better than that. In 8 attempts, I've not actually managed to get above 90% yet. This is worrying.

Attempt #9 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 430,710

• 87% again, and again it felt like a lot more. I seemed to string a lot of catches together by hitting them full in the face and looping the ball over the other pegs to the opposite corner, but it all went to pieces eventually.

Attempt #10 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 808,720

• Up to 98% that time, which equates to three pegs left. So close. My catching was working well, but not quite well enough.

Attempt #11 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 586,410

• A 91% clearance, so my average seems to have improved a little over the last couple of attempts. I just had too much to do with the last few balls and I wasn't getting any luck when I needed it.

Attempt #12 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 348,440

• Down to 86% again. The catches weren't working and I got no luck.

Attempt #13 - Laser Ball & Grenade Ball. Score: 754,660 

• Finally got it at the 13th attempt. The first ball did well, taking out 31 pegs, including both trigger pegs, albeit in the wrong order. I then got 18 with the Grenade, and 41 with the Laser. That still left me 69 pegs to get with 7 balls, so that's an average of just under 10 per ball. I didn't generally bother waiting for the right purple peg to come along as that would have taken forever. I felt that with so many pegs to pick off, a total clearance would pretty much guarantee a pro score anyway. It took a few lucky breaks and a lot of careful catches, but I got there eventually. I still needed 7 pegs with the last ball, which could have been a lot worse, but I held my nerve and made it to the end.

SUMMARY

Level	Reds	Pegs	Target	Balls	Clock	Pro	Attempts	Record	Average	Video
1	30	91	Reds	10	-	425k	4	855,240	500,887
2	25	127	Reds	9	-	450k	1	614,450	614,450
3	30	90	Reds	8	-	425k	1	435,300	435,300
4	30	159	Reds	9	-	400k	3	498,410	341,463
5	25	113	Reds	8	-	425k	3	712,730	451,113
6	35	127	Reds	7	-	650k	2	1,141,940	695,050
7	40	91	Reds	7	-	750k	1	782,920	782,920
8	25	90	All	8	-	600k	1	829,800	829,800
9	35	113	All	8	-	625k	1	670,670	670,670
10	35	159	All	7	-	725k	13	808,720	510,415