DESERT FALCON by ATARI c 1988 A DARING DESERT QUEST FOR TREASURE! ----------------------------------- All around you are long stretches of sand, ancient pyramids baking in the hot dead air, and constant danger. The legends that brought you here are 30 centuries old. The tales tell of thieves who plundered the Pharaoh's tomb, loading bags of gold, silver, and precious gems onto their camels, then making off into the desert. But in the night, horrible desert beasts pursued the robbers, and the priceless treasure was scattered and lost. Not even a camel was ever seen again. Now you search for the lost treasure, daring the beaks and claws of the desert guardians. As you scan the endless sand for the glitter of jewels, your eye catches sight of gliding shadows. Something's coming! You could turn back now and be safe. Or you could go on, and dare to steal the Pharaoh's jewels. GETTING STARTED 1. Insert the Desert Falcon cartridge into your Atari 2600 or 7800(TM) console. 2. For one player, plug a joystick into the left controller jack. For two players, plug a second joystick into the right controller jack. 3. Turn on your television, then press the [Power] button to turn on your console. The Desert Falcon title and options screen appears. 4. Select game options by pressing [Select] or by using the left joystick. Move the joystick handle up or down to choose one of four skill levels: Novice (easiest), Standard, Advanced, or Expert (most difficult) and to choose between a one- or two-player game. An option is selected when it lights up. 5. Press [Reset] or the left joystick's fire button to start the game. 6. Press [Select] to redisplay the options screen at any time. GAME PLAY The Pharaoh's lost treasures--enormous gems, big golden eggs, and silver ingots--are scattered among the ancient pyramids and obelisks. Fly towards the treasures, then hover or hop over them to pick them up and earn points. Use your joystick handle to maneuver. (Follow the chart above.) The treasures are guarded by flying and crawling beasts. Burrowing Uwes crawl out of the sand to charge at you, and Vultures, Warrior Phleas, Scarabs, Flying Fish, and Phantom Gliders attack from the air. Darts fly at you, spit our by the Howling Sphinx waiting at the end of the trail. All these enemies will destroy you if they hit you. Protect yourself by firing darts. A direct hit destroys enemy creatures and gains you points. You can also maneuver around enemies. At higher levels, watch out for flame-throwing Fire Pots and dart- shooting Mini-Sphinxes. You begin the game with five lives. Each time you're hit or you crash into an object you lose a life, but you will recover as long as you have lives left. The end of each desert trek brings you to the Howling Sphinx. You must shoot this Sphinx in the middle of its face in order to get past it, all the while dodging the darts and nasty creatures it spits at you. ______________________________________________________________ | | | | ACTION | JOYSTICK OPERATION | |_________________________________|____________________________| | | | | Fire darts | Press fire button once | |_________________________________|____________________________| | | | | Activate super powers | Press fire button twice, | | | quickly ("DBL-PRESS") | |_________________________________|____________________________| | | | | Fly; gain altitude | Pull handle backward | |_________________________________|____________________________| | | | | Land, hop, or swim | Push handle forward | |_________________________________|____________________________| | | | | Maintain altitude in the air; | Release handle | | stop on land | | |_________________________________|____________________________| | | | | Move left | Push handle left | |_________________________________|____________________________| | | | | Move right | Push handle right | |_________________________________|____________________________| SUPER POWERS Hop over any three hieroglyphs scattered in the sand to gain super powers. Super powers give you great advantages, such as letting you destroy all enemies on screen at once or paralyze the Howling Sphinx. Check the Gaming Box at the bottom of the screen to find out which power you've gained and whether if requires pressing the fire button twice quickly ("DBL-PRESS"). Some powers will be used up when you double-press the fire button; other powers last for about 20 seconds. A new power is awarded when you pick up three more hieroglyphs, whether or not the previous power was used. There are many super powers for you to discover (some of them are described on the next page). But beware: in the higher levels of play you can earn super problems, such as Shackles, as well as super powers. Gaming Box [Image of the box below the game screen. The Current Score is in the upper right corner. The score of Player 1 is on top, and the score of player two is on the bottom. Below the score, and in the middle, is the current Super Power the player possesses. Below this is the Lives Remaining and Hieroglyphs Picked Up. The Lives Remaining of Player 1 is on the left, the Hieroglyphs Picked Up is in the middle, and the Lives Remaining of Player 2 is on the right. On the left side of the bottom line, the Base Value per Treasure is shown. On the right side of the bottom line, the Value Multipliers are shown.] HIEROGLYPHS Ankh [Image of a "+" with a "o" on top of it.] Bowl [Image of a bowl.] Eye [Image of an eye, with an eyebrow, and a line coming out of its right side.] Man [Image of a man standing sideways, with a backpack and a walking stick.] Bird [Image of a bird standing sideways.] Cane [Image of a candycane.] Feather [Image of a backwards 'P" with the top part colored in.] Sun Over Water [Image of a colored in circle with three hyphens in a line bellow it, and four hyphens in a line bellow that.] _____________________________________________________________________ | | | | SUPER POWERS | WHAT THEY DO | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Air Bomb | Pressing the fire button destroys all airborne | | | enemies and enemy darts in sight | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Decoy | Enemies are tricked into flying towards a decoy | | | spot instead of towards you | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Hold Sphinx | The Howling Sphinx is unable to spit creatures | | | or darts at you | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Invincible | Nothing can destroy you | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Omnicide | All enemies on screen are destroyed when you | | | double-press the fire button | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Points | You are given free points | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Polywater | You can fly and hop but not swim | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | | You are given two random hieroglyphs. The next | | Roulette | hieroglyph you pick up determines your next | | | super power | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Shackles | You can fly and swim but not hop | |________________|____________________________________________________| | | | | Warp | You fly at lightning speed to the Howling Sphinx | |________________|____________________________________________________| SCORING ------- SHOOTING DESERT BEASTS Each enemy you destroy earns you points. Destroying a flying enemy increases the base value of treasures. You cannot shoot the Howling Sphinx's darts. ____________________________________________________________ | | | | | DESERT BEASTS | POINTS | POINTS ADDED TO BASE VALUE | | | SCORED | OF TREASURES | |__________________|__________|______________________________| | | | | | Mini-Sphinx | 1000 | 0 | |__________________|__________|______________________________| | | | | | Warrior Phlea | 500 | 5 | |__________________|__________|______________________________| | | | | | Scarab | 300 | 3 | |__________________|__________|______________________________| | | | | | Flying Fish | 200 | 2 | |__________________|__________|______________________________| | | | | | Vulture | 200 | 2 | |__________________|__________|______________________________| | | | | | Burrowing Uwe | 150 | 0 | |__________________|__________|______________________________| | | | | | Phantom Glider | 100 | 1 | |__________________|__________|______________________________| DESTROYING THE HOWLING SPHINX First Sphinx.............................................. 5,000 points Each additional Sphinx......... previous Sphinx score plus 1,000 points (up to 10,000 points maximum) STEALING TREASURES During regular game play, each treasure you pick up earns you the base value, plus increase that treasure's value multiplier by 1. In the bonus round, each treasure is worth the base value times its value multiplier. BONUS LIVES You earn a bonus life at every 10,000 points scored. You can have a maximum of four lives remaining. BONUS ROUND Destroying the Howling Sphinx gains you entrance to the bonus round. Here your goal is to pick up as many treasures as you can in the time allowed. During the bonus round, your time allowed is counted down in seconds in the Gaming Box. The bonus score is tallied next to the time. When the round ends, the bonus score is added to your current score. The last hieroglyphs or super power you gained reappear along with your remaining lives. You are not attacked in the bonus round, and colliding with objects will not cost you a life; only time is lost. STRATEGY Gauge the altitude of flying beasts by watching their shadows. Figure out what combination of hieroglyphs awards you which power. For instance, the combination "Bird, Cane, Bowl" gives you Warp (except at Novice level) while the combination "Cane, Bird, Bowl" (the same hieroglyphs in a different order) gives you Air Bomb. Pick up a particular combination when its power will do you the most good. In the bonus round, go for the treasures that have the highest value multiplier. Gaming Box [Image of the box below the game screen. On the bottom line, from left to right, are: Base Value per Treasure, Gem Value Multiplier, Golden Egg Value Multiplier, and Silver Ingot Value Multiplier. The line above the bottom line contains, from left to right: Time Allowed and Bonus Score. DESERT GUARDIANS Mini-Sphinx [Image of a small dog lying down.] Warrior Phlea [Image of a plane in a nose dive.] Scarab [Image of a "diamond" with two white hyphens on the left corner.] Flying Fish [Image of a fish in a nose dive with four wings.] Fire Pot [Image of a pot with flames leaping out of it.] Vulture [Image of a vulture in a nose dive.] Burrowing Uwe [Image of a hollow "0" with a face on the left side.] Phantom Glider [Image of a glider flying to the south-west.] Howling Sphinx [Image of a large dog lying down.] TREASURES Golden Egg [Image of a "o" colored in.] Gem [Image of a "v" colored in, with a top on it.] Silver Ingot [Image of a horizontal bar.] And of course, this game was made by Atari in 1988. This game manual was typed in by me! Who am I? I am Eddie Beiles. I can be reached at [email protected] if you have any questions about this game manual. Or you can email me and thank me for typing it in. Anyway, enjoy the game and this wonderfully typed in manual. 4/14/95