ATARI (R) 2600 (R) Game Manual Off The Wall (TM) by ATARI Blazing Brickbats and Blackbirds! Far away in the Mysterious East on the other side of the world, there lived an adventurous lad named Kung Fu Lu. Lu's grand longing was to crush the ancient, evil wall that plagued his friendly neighbors. Guarding the wall was a mystical dragon and a cunning blackbird. The dragon would cast balls at brave Lu. If Lu successfully deflected them with his staff, he gained good fortune and special powers. If he missed a ball, it cost him one of his five lives he was granted as a child. The frightful blackbird tried to prevent Kung Fu Lu from destroying the wall, but Lu remained undaunted and continued on until he smashed the last remaining brick. Getting Started 1. Insert the Off The Wall cartridge into your Atari 2600 (or 7800) System as explained in your owner's manual. 2. Plug a controller into the left controller port. 3. Switch on your television, then press [Power] to switch on your system. The Off The Wall title screen appears. 4. Press [Select] to select the skill level (Peasant, Student, or Master) and number of players (one or two) for the game. 5. Change the difficulty switch to increase or decrease Kung Fu Lu's speed. He moves faster when the switch is set on A than when the switch is set on B. 6. Press the fire button to begin. 7. Press [Reset] to start a new game. Off The Wall The objective in Off The Wall is to score the highest number of points. Play against another player or try to beat your best score. Score points by using the ball to knock bricks out of the wall, hitting the dragon beyond the bricks, or catching the Mystery Token for bonus points. When the player clears four brick waves, he automatically advanced to the next skill level. Game Description Using the controller, the player must position Lu in the path of the falling ball. Lu uses his staff to deflect the ball back to the brick wall to break out bricks. If Lu misses a ball, he loses a life. In each game the player starts with five lives. The number of lives remaining displays in the upper left hand corner of the screen, with one square for each remaining life. If you break out all the bricks, or hit the dragon six times, the wave finishes and you receive another life. Each time you hit the dragon, the background behind the bricks becomes lighter. Two-Player Game In a two-player game, each player takes a turn. The first player begins breaking out bricks until he misses a ball and loses a life. The second player continues with the same brick field, knocking out bricks until he misses. The game continues, moving into higher skill levels until each player runs out of lives. Blackbird After the first wave on the Peasant level, a Blackbird appears. The bird tries to fly between the bricks and the ball. If the ball hits the bird, the bird deflects the ball back to Lu. Special Power Tokens After you hit the ball the first time, different tokens begin dropping at random. If Lu catches a token, he receives special powers. Each token has its own special power. Lu keeps these special powers until he misses a ball or the token timer (a bar graph in the upper right corner) runs out. Zig Zag (Z) This token makes the ball travel in a zig zag pattern after being hit by Lu. On the way down, the ball travels in a normal, straight path. Mystery Token (?) This token can have any one of four effects. Three help Lu while one is a disadvantage. The token may grant Lu an additional life, add 50, 75, or 100 bonus points depending on the current skill level, or stop the Blackbird. Or, this token may hinder Lu by speeding up the ball, making the ball harder to hit. Magnetic Paddle (M) With this token, Lu's staff becomes a magnet which draws the ball. For example, if the ball is to Lu's left the ball moves toward him. After hitting the ball, moving Lu to the left moves the ball in the same direction. Because this powerful token makes the player almost invincible, the token timer runs at twice the normal speed. Nuke Ball (bomb) This token causes the ball to break out a much larger chunk of bricks when the ball hits the wall. Mega Paddle (flame) With this token Lu carries a much larger staff. The larger staff makes it easier to hit the ball. Level of Difficulty There are three different skill levels which you can select at the beginning of a game -- Peasant, Student, and Master. Each of these levels has four different waves of playing action. Each skill level and each wave is a little harder than the one before. If a player starts on Peasant level and finishes all four waves, the game automatically advances to the next skill level. Playing Tips If you hit the ball at an angle into the brick field, it bounces off the inside bricks and knocks out far more bricks than a direct hit. Be careful not to move Lu too fast or you could overshoot the ball. Use your tokens strategically. Try to use the Blackbird to your advantage. The M token is great for killing the dragon. Scoring Points are scored by knocking out bricks, hitting the dragon, and catching the Mystery tokens. Bricks 1 to 5 points each Catching Mystery token, Peasant level 50 points Catching Mystery token, Student level 75 points Catching Mystery token, Master level 100 points Hitting the dragon 100 points Atari Corporation is unable to guarantee the accuracy of printed material after the date of publication and disclaims liability for changes, errors, or omissions. Reproduction of this document or any portion of its contents is not allowed without the specific written permission of Atari Corporation. Atari, the Atari logo, 2600, 7800 and Off The Wall are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. Copyright (C) 1989, Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. All rights reserved. Printed in Hong Kong B.T.8.1989 C300016-168 Rev. A