It's not a reference, it's just a really neat game mechanic. Normally the high score is guarded by the game and changes only if the game deems it fit to change

It's not a reference, it's just a really neat game mechanic. Normally the high score is guarded by the game and changes only if the game deems it fit to change it. In this game, because the high score is accessible within the game and you can execute arbitrary instructions, you can use that to modify the high score. It's as if in a more normal game the high score was kept in a big chest somewhere in the game world and once discovered you can start messing with the contents of it all within the rules of the world itself.