Well it's not quite as high as Desmonds, but I think I can do better next time.
I only died twice in this playthrough. Once in level 6 (I hate those guys with the spinning sticks!) and a bonehead move - after making it through the wall of ninjas at the end (on my first try!), I fell into the final boss's orb of death. D'oh! I also didn't pick up all of the little gem things. So I bet with a little more effort one could crack half a million on this game.
roflmao: 475,500
P.S. - I'm uploading my gameplay as separate videos for each level now to YouTube. (YouTube handle: turbografxnerd)