David Cruz got 7,148,220. That's what people consider the official high score. It was confirmed/monitored by Twin Galaxies (the recognized official high-score keeper of video games, as I understand it).
Here's their main website:
http://www.twingalaxies.com/
Here's the Tron Arcade high-score entry, where it shows the DIP switch settings and Rules they used, too:
http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=3973&vi=327
Mr. Cruz posted here at Tron-Sector before pursuing the high score. He said he was really good and gave sample scores that he had gotten. I think they were somewhere in the 1 million or 2 million range. And if I remember his thoughts correctly, I think he felt with a little more practice he could fairly easily beat the world record score which was 4,580,031 at the time.
Within what seemed like a matter of only weeks or a couple months, he proved himself by getting the high-score through Twin Galaxies and had his story on their site.
Was pretty cool ~
If you ever go for the high score,
ddawgith, good luck! It sounds like you're well on the way to being a record holder some day. You're already close to being in the Top 10.
PS: I should get an Atari 2600 and go for the Space Invaders high score:
http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=5&gi=3693&vi=2172. I could probably at least be in the Top 4. I think I got a little over 100,000 on it in the 1980s as a kid. I think I got about 104K. It could've been way more... my family was watching and they say even now I was playing forever. Surely I haven't lost the touch? Then again, I don't know if I was playing "Game 1, Difficulty B" as Twin Galaxies specifies. (Unfortunately, my brother's ex-girlfriend pretty much took my Atari 2600, all the games, and manuals that my dad and I had written all my gaming high scores on and sold them at a garage sale or something. Saddens me to this day. Is a tough one to let go.)