Atari 2600 RealSports(tm) FOOTBALL Game designed and implemented by Rob Zdybel. ATARI welcomes your comments. Please address all correspondence to: ATARI Customer Relations 1312 Crossman Avenue Sunnyvale, CA 94086 NOTE: Always turn the console POWER switch OFF when inserting or removing an ATARI Game Program(tm) cartridge. This will protect the electronic components and prolong the life of your ATARI 2600(tm) Video Computer system(tm) game. (C) 1982 ATARI, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION 2. GAME PLAY 3. USING THE CONTROLLERS 4. CONSOLE CONTROLS 5. CALLING PLAYS 6. SCORING 7. HELPFUL HINTS 1. INTRODUCTION You're the quarterback of the ATARI offensive team, and you're really feeling the pressure. Down by less than a touchdown in the closing seconds of the game, you have to maneuver that ball into the end zone somehow for the winning score. How will you do it? You could run with the ball and try to evade that wide-ranging middle linebacker. Be careful, though. He's a littel bit faster than you and will catch you over the distance. Fortunately, you've done your homework by practicing your passing in the one-player game against the computer. But this is head-to-head competition against a real person, and people aren't always as predictable. It's your ball. Hurry! Time's running out. Can you call the right play and get that touchdown? 2. GAME PLAY The basic rules of football apply, with some modification. Like regular football, the object of ATARI RealSports FOOTBALL is to score more points than your opponent by getting touchdowns, field goals, and safeties. You advance the ball toward the goal by running and passing according to the plays you select with your Joystick Controller. Each team has five players, one of which can be controlled by the Joystick. You can play against the computer in a one-person game; or you can compete against another person in a two-player game. The clock runs continuously during plays. It stops after incompleted passes, scores, turnovers, dead balls, and when offense calls its play. It resumes at the hike. The clock will run down for no more than 30 seconds after the last completed play. If offense has not called its play by this time, the clock will freeze until it resumes at the hike. There are no time outs, no fumbles, no penalties, and no running out-of-bounds. Each game consists of one 15-minute quarter. 3. USING THE CONTROLLERS Use your Joystick Controllers with this ATARI Game Program cartridge. Be sure the controller cables are firmly plugged into the CONTROLLER jacks at the back of your ATARI 2600 Video Computer System game. For one-player games, use the Joystick plugged into the LEFT CONTROLLER jack. Hold the Joystick with the red button to your upper left, toward the television screen. (See your Owner's Manual for further details.) Move Diagonally Move Up Move Diagonally \ | / Move Left - - Move right / | \ Move Diagonally Move Down Move Diagonally Use your joystick to: * Call plays before the hike. * Direct your control-player after the hike. Use the fire button to: * Hike the ball. * Pass the ball. * Program a kick play. * Kick the ball. * Call up a blitz play. 4. CONSOLE CONTROLS GAME SELECT SWITCH You can choose a one-player or a two-player game. Press the GAME SELECT switch until your choice is indicated by the down number on the scoreboard. GAME RESET SWITCH After you have selected your game, press the GAME RESET switch to begin a new game. TV TYPE SWITCH Set this switch to COLOR if you're playing on a color television set. Set it to B-W to play the game in black and white. DIFFICULTY SWITCHES The difficulty switches establish the running speed of the control-players. The A (advanced) switch makes the control-player run half as fast as the B (beginner) switch. The difficulty switches are especially useful as a handicap so the abilities of two players can be more evenly matched. B is the recommended mode for all players. A should be used as a handicap between unevenly matched players--with the(allegedly) stronger player in the A mode. 5. CALLING PLAYS In the one-player game, you play the blue team and the computer plays the yellow team competively against you. Sometimes you are on offense; sometimes on defense. In either case, you only have to call up the play for your side: the computer will select its own play and hike the ball soon after. In the two-player game, each person must select a play before the scrimmage can begin. The flashing scoreboard indicates which side has yet to call its play. As soon as both sides have called their plays, the flashing team scores will stabilize, indicating that offense can now hike the ball by pressing the red button. To call plays, move the joystick or push the red button--as indicated by Figures 2 and 3. OFFENSE To pass, press the red button and the ball will be thrown toward a pass pass-eligible receiver who is running a pre-arranged pattern. You can only have one pass-eligible receiver in any play. The art of passing is to time his pattern with the arrival of the ball. (Figure 2.) To kick, you need to press the red button a total of three times. once, to program a kick play before the hike; a second time to hike the ball; a third time to actually kick the ball. Field goals and punts are called up in exactly the same way. If you kick close to the goal and the ball goes through the goal posts, the kick will register as a field goal. If the ball misses the goal posts, the kick will have functioned as a punt. The ball will be downed where it went dead; or, if it did enter the end zone, it will come out to the twenty for the next set of plays. There are no punt returns and no blocked kicks. --------- | To Kick | --------- Long Pass Left Long Pass Right \/ Run Left - - Run Right /\ Short Pass Left Short Pass Right Figure 2 - Offensive Plays DEFENSE Except for the blitz, each of the other four defensive plays offers some kind of defense against a pass. (Figure 3.) If you call a blitz, the defensive safeties will join the linemen in rushing the quarterback. You then have only your control-player to cover the pass and a possible run. ---------- | To blitz | ---------- Short Pass, Both Safeties Covering | Short Pass Left - - Short Pass Right | Long Pass, Both Safeties Covering Figure 3 - Defensive Plays 6. SCORING Crossing the defensive team's goal line by running or passing the ball successfully into their end zone is a TOUCHDOWN. It counts for seven (7) points, and the ball will automatically be brought out to the twenty-yard line to begin the next series of plays. Kicking the ball through the "goal posts" is a FIELD GOAL and counts for three (3) points, with the ball brought out to the twenty. Kicking field goals is random and depends on your proximity to the goal line. If you kick from within the twenty, your chances are excellent; if you're beyond the forty, better try something else. Tackling the ball carrier in his own end zone is a SAFETY and scores two (2) points for the defensive team. They also gain possession of the ball on their own twenty-yaerd line. 7. HELPFUL HINTS * When you call plays like the short pass left and the long pass left, it is sometimes tricky to move your Joystick perfectly along the diagonal line that programs those plays. Try moving your Joystick straight up (or down) first, and then shift it toward the diagonal that programs your selected play. * After you throw a pass and thet quarterback has exited from the TV screen, Joystick control is automatically transferred to the intended receiver. Use the Joystick to adjust his position while the ball is in mid-flight, and you may improve your chances of completing a pass. * "Rolling out" toward the side where your receiver runs his pattern is often a good tactic in completing a pass. Ultimately, though, successful passing is a matter of good timing. * Blocked passes and interceptions can occur if a defensive player is in the direct line of flight of the pass. You cannot throw a pass over a player's head. * It is not easy to run against the computer in the one-player game. Your best bet is to use your blockers and tangle up that fleet-footed linebacker at the line while you scurry for yardage. * The defensive control-player is a hair faster than the ball carrier, so he can make the tackle over the short run. But if you can manage to get a decent enough headstart, you've got yourself a long gainer and maybe a touchdown. ATARI, INC. Consumer Division P.O. Box 427 Sunnyvale, CA 94086 A Warner Communications Company C019741-68 REV.1 2668 (C) 1982 ATARI, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Printed in U.S.A. This document typed and converted to html by [email protected].