Blue Lightning
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INTRODUCTION
------------

General Drako was one of the greatest military minds ever to work for the 
United Nations. Not that anyone knew; the peacekeeping forces supplied by 
countries around the world were a well-kept secret, to be used only when global 
peace was threatened by radicals and tyrants. Drako slowly and subversively 
gained control of most of these forces, corrupting them to his own will. Even 
some of the pilots of the venerated Blue Lightning Squadron turned to Drako in 
exchange for promises of wealth and power. By the time Drako's betrayal was 
discovered, his crime net streched across the globe.

The U.N. leaders were shocked. Something had to be done, and soon, before the 
rest of the world found out the hard way that something had gone wrong. The 
forces that remained with the U.N. were eager to stop Drako from achieving his 
horrible goals. But they would need support from the air: from Blue Lightning 
Squadron.

This is where you come in. As a rookie pilot, you will test your skills in four 
training missions. Then you'll choose your first Tour of Duty. Each Tour has 
four challenging missions that you must get through, using your weapons and 
your skill to stop Drako's forces from accomplishing their criminal tasks. Do 
well, and you will be given access to additional aircraft with unique 
abilities. There are specific goals you must accomplish in order for the 
missions to succeed. Good luck! A lot of people are counting on you for their 
survival!


GETTING STARTED
---------------

1. Insert your Blue Lightning CD into the Jaguar CD player and close the lid.

2. Insert your Memory Track Cartridge (if you have one) into the cartridge slot 
   of the CD player.

3. Press the POWER button.

4. Press any button to skip the title screens and start the game.


LANGUAGES

To change the language of the text in Blue Lightning, go to the OPTIONS screen 
(press option) and highlight the box that says ENGLISH. Press the B button to 
change to French or German. The language setting will be saved on the Memory 
Track Cartridge if you have one. You must change the language before starting a 
game.


STARTING A GAME
---------------

To start a game, press any button until you get to the SELECT PILOT screen.

PILOT ROSTER - If you are playing for the first time, you will need to create a 
 new pilot. Just select any of the "New Pilot" slots and press a button. You 
 will be asked to select a photo, enter a name and select a difficulty for your 
 new pilot. (NOTE: When entering a name, the yellow arrow will backspace if you 
 make a mistake and the yellow check mark will confirm the name you have 
 entered). Your pilot, and any progress he makes, will be saved on the Memory 
 Track Cartridge if you have one.

ERASE - If you want to start a new pilot but there are no slots available on 
 the roster, you can erase one of the existing pilots by selecting ERASE. This 
 permanently deletes the pilot, so be sure you don't want that pilot anymore.

PILOT STATS - If you want to examine a pilot's record before playing, you can 
 select STATS. This tells you which tours have been completed as well as other 
 information about that pilot.

TRAINING - If your pilot has not completed the training tour, you will have to 
 do so before you can start battling Drako's forces. You will go straight into 
 the briefing screen for the training simulator, and must complete the four 
 training missions.

BRIEFING SCREEN - After passing a security check you are granted access to the 
 MISSION VAULT, which will give you briefing information explaining the purpose 
 of the tour. You will also have a separate briefing for each mission. You will 
 be told what your objective is, what kind of mission it is (air or ground, 
 attack or escort) and any other intelligence info that may help you on your 
 way.

PLANE SELECT/WEAPON SELECT - Next, you can select the plane you will fly on the 
 mission. You can also configure your plane with Special weapons for ground 
 attack missions if you like (see WEAPONS). Once you are happy with your 
 selection, press any button to start the mission.

CRASHING - If you crash, you will return to the plane select screen and will 
 have to start the mission over. The plane you crashed will not be available. 
 If you crash the last plane you have, your game will end!

MISSION DEBRIEFING - This screen will tell you if you completed the mission, 
 and how well you did. It will also notify you if you have earned a new plane. 
 Then it will lead into the next mission briefing.

FAILED SCREEN - If you fail too many mission you will be "busted" out of Blue 
 Lightning Squadron and your game will be over. Be sure you do your best to 
 complete the objective of each mission!

TOUR COMPLETE - When you complete the fourth mission in a tour, the tour is 
 complete. You will get an overall rating, and you will be awarded stars based 
 on your performance during the tour. At this point, you will be allowed to 
 select your next tour of duty.

NOTE: Each time you finish a tour, your pilot's progress will be saved in the 
 Memory Track Cartridge (if you have one) so that you can continue with the 
 same pilot the next time you play.

WINNING THE GAME - You must complete training, the seven main tours, and a 
 final tour in order to wipe out Drako and finish the game.


GAME CONTROLS
-------------

A - Fire missiles

B - Fire guns

C - Fire special weapon

OPTION - Barrel rolls plane 360 degrees

THE BARREL ROLL is the ultimate evasive maneuver. Although your pilot cannot 
 fire weapons during a roll, the chances of being hit are greatly reduced!

Joypad Up - plane Dive, move crosshair down

Joypad Down - plane Climb, move crosshair up

Joypad Left/Right - turn left/right, move crosshair left/right


KEYPAD CONTROLS

1 - Afterburner
2 - Cruise speed
3 - Air Brake
7, 8, or 9 - switches in or out of cockpit view
0 - Toggles music off/on
* and # - Resets the game


CONTROL OPTIONS

You can change the control configuration from the Options screen. (Press OPTION 
at any time to access the Options screen. To access this screen during the 
game, press PAUSE and then OPTION.)

Volume, controls, high scores and other settings will be saved under your pilot 
as long as you have a Memory Track Cartridge plugged into the CD player. If you 
do not have a Memory Track Cartridge plugged in, this information cannot be 
saved and will be lost when you turn off your Jaguar.


PLANES
------

As you play the game and score points, you may earn enough for an extra plane. 
You will receive your first plane at 50,000 points, and additional planes every 
100,000 points thereafter. If you have enough points to earn another plane, but 
you already have all available planes, you will automatically receive a new 
plane if you crash one of your existing planes. Extra planes are awarded at the 
end of a mission, so you must finish a mission in order to be awarded a new 
plane. Only the F-18 Hornet will be available during the training missions, but 
you have an almost unlimited number since the training missions are on a 
"flight simulator." Once you have completed the "training" tour, you will be 
awarded three planes: the F-18 Hornet, the MiG-29 Fulcrum and the AJ-37 Viggen. 
These planes are very real, and if you crash one, you will not be able to 
select it again. There are seven different planes you can potentially fly:

F-18 Hornet - A good all-purpose plane common to Blue Lightning Squadron.
MiG-29 Fulcrum - a powerful Soviet plane.
AJ-37 Viggen - an all-purpose Swedish plane.
A-10 A Thunderbolt II - Also known as the "Warthog," ideal for ground attack.
F-14A Tomcat - An excellent air-superiority flighter.
AV-8B Harrier II - capable of hovering in mid-flight (use airbrake button).
Tornado GR.1 - a British plane that can carry lots of ordinance.

The list above is also the order that the planes will be awarded if you earn 
enough points. When you have been awarded all seven planes, you can continue to 
earn back any planes that have been lost or destroyed. They will be awarded in 
the same order, skipping any planes you already have.


WEAPONS
-------

All planes can fire Missiles and Guns. Each plane can carry a limited number of 
Missiles, but unlimited ammo for Guns.

GUNS - Guns can be used to shoot air or ground targets. Some targets are 
 sturdier than others, requiring a larger "spray" of bullets. Guns are not as 
 deadly or long-ranged as missiles, but they never run out. (Note: The A-10A's 
 gun is more powerful than the guns on the other planes - it's a specialized 
 30 MM Gatling Cannon!)

MISSILES - As you fly along, you will see rectangular yellow "missile lock" 
 icons appear over ground and air targets in front of you. When you fire off a 
 missile, the icon will turn red, indicating the missile is on it's way. 
 Missiles do more damage and require less aiming than guns, but you can carry 
 only a limited number of them. The amount you can carry differs from plane to 
 plane. Also, the range and accuracy of your missiles will differ depending on 
 the plane's AVIONICS statistic.


SPECIAL WEAPONS

For Ground Attack missions, you will be given access to special weapons. If you 
decide to equip your plane with a special weapon, you will have to sacrifice a 
few missiles to make room for the special weapons. Some planes can carry more 
special weapons than others, but most planes carry three if a special weapon is 
chosen.

CLUSTER BOMBS - These bombs spit out hundreds of deadly bomblets, perfect for 
 taking out large clumps of enemies with a single drop. You have to time them 
 just right to get the most out of them. Cluster bombs are green and squat, 
 with yellow stripes and short fins.

NAPALM BOMBS - These bombs start a deadly line of flames rolling along the 
 ground, damaging anything in their path. They are ideal for taking out enemies 
 that have lined themselves up (along a road, for example). Napalm bombs are 
 aluminum colored and have no fins.

SLAMR BOMBS - "Strike Land Armor Munition - Remote." These specialized armor 
 piercing bombs are ideal for destroying large targets (marked with a diamond-
 shaped lockon). You must take SLAMRs on missions with a large target. BE SURE 
 you save your SLAMRs for the large target! SLAMRs are blue with a sharp point 
 and large fins.

Note: The A-10A always comes equipped with 6 special weapons if a ground attack 
 mission is being played - these cannot be substituted for additional missiles! 
 Also, the F-14 can never carry Cluster Bombs or Napalm Bombs. Keep this in 
 mind when selecting a plane for ground attack missions.


GAME SCREEN DESCRIPTION
-----------------------

SCORE - This is your current score.

DAMAGE METER - This shows how much damage your plane can take. It starts out 
 green and turns red as your plane gets hit by missiles or bullets.

MISSILES - This shows you how many missiles you have. A large missile graphic 
 represents ten missiles.

SPECIAL - If you have selected a special weapon, this shows you how many you 
 have left.

PROGRESS BAR - This shows how far through the mission you are. As you progress 
 through the mission the yellow bar turns black.

YOUR PLANE - This is your plane - watch to see if you are taking damage from 
 enemy fire.

ESCORT ARROW - This arrow will point towards the escort plane during escort 
 missions, so you don't lose track of them. It points forward, left, right or 
 backward.

CROSSHAIR - This shows you where your guns are pointing. Use the crosshair to 
 aim at targets with your guns.


HINTS AND TIPS
--------------

GROUND MISSIONS - Make good use of your guns, especially against targets that 
 don't shoot back. Use missiles on hostile enemies so you can avoid their 
 shots, or when there are too many targets to hit with guns. Note down if there 
 are lots of rows or clumps of enemies, so you can remember to take Napalm or 
 Cluster Bombs next time. Slow down to hit targets, and speed up to avoid 
 enemies.

AIR MISSIONS - For incoming planes, fire your missiles early and barrel roll to 
 avoid them. For outgoing planes, get behind them with guns or missiles. If 
 they get too far away, they may outrun your missiles, so use afterburners to 
 keep up.

ACE PLANES - Use afterburner and air brake to get behind enemy Ace planes. Fire 
 guns and missiles when you are behind them. Use barrel roll to avoid their 
 fire if they are behind you. During ground missions, try to lure them into 
 crashing into mountains.

ESCORT MISSIONS - Keep the escort plane in view or just behind you - if you are 
 too far away, enemies can do a lot of damage to it. Try to kill enemies early, 
 before they have a chance to damage the escort plane. Be careful not to shoot 
 the escort, and be sure you stay alive for the whole mission!

SPECIAL TARGETS - When you are given SLAMR bombs, don't drop them until you get 
 to your objective target and get the diamond lockon. You can also fire 
 missiles at special targets, but guns won't do enough damage.