"Tower Toppler"


High-Rise Hysteria!

In a toxic sea on the distant planet Nebulus, far from the sight of land,
stand eight mysterious rotating towers. They're the power bases of a mad
scientist who's trying to control the universe. That's why you're here --
you're going to stop him by blowing his towers back into the sea!

After all, you're the top explosives expert at Destructo, Inc. At least
that's what your boss said to sweet-talk you into this job. When he hinted
at a pay raise and said you'd be cruising the poison sea in the
experimental BA-1 minisub, you couldn't say no.

Only there's a slight problem. You have to climb to the top of each tower
to blow it down. And each one is guarded by different enemies:
indestructible mutant molecules, weird flying eyes, vicious robots, and
huge cannonballs that barrel out of nowhere!

You're armed, sure, but your gun won't always stop your enemies. When
you're not quick enough, they'll knock you off the tower for an unplanned
swim in the poison sea! Even if you survive your bath, you've got to start
all over again at the bottom of the tower.

But you know you can do it! So put on your frog suit, grab your snowball
gun, and wave goodbye. Your minisub awaits you!

Getting Started

1.  With your Atari 7800 set up, insert the Tower Toppler cartridge into
    the console and plug a controller into the left port. For two players,
    plug another controller into the right port.

2.  Turn on your television and press [Power] to turn on your Atari
    console. The Tower Toppler title and selection screen appears.

3.  Press [Select] or move player 1's directional control to highlight the
    game options you want. Move the control left or right to select sound
    on or off. Move the control up or down to select 1 or 2 players.

4.  Before playing the game, make sure that both difficulty switches are
    in the right position.

5.  Press the fire button or [Reset] to start the game.

6.  Press [Pause] to pause a game. Press it again to resume play.

7.  Press [Reset] at any time to start a new game with the same game
    options, or press [Select] to return to the selection screen.

Playing the Game

Your mission is to run, jump, and climb your way to the top of each tower.
The clock starts ticking the moment you step out of your sub. It will take
all of your coordination, judgement, and speed to reach the upper level of
the tower and set off the automatic destruction sequence before your time
runs out.

Each tower is guarded by different enemies, and you've got to figure out
how to get past them. Here's how to move:

Action                                  Controller Movement
Walk left or right                      Move controller left or right.
Enter a tunnel or take elevator up      Move controller up.
Take elevator down                      Move controller down.
Jump                                    Press fire button while walking.
Shoot enemies                           Press fire button while standing
                                        still.
Shoot fish                              Press fire button while in the
                                        minisub.

You're armed with a snowball gun, and you can destroy flashing block
barricades by shooting them. You have to do that in order to get past them.
You can also destroy all the rolling cannonballs except the ones that slide
back and forth instead of bouncing. You can stun these for a few seconds,
but you can't get past them.

All other creatures are indestructible. You have to time your movements to
avoid them, or they'll knock you down the tower and maybe even into the
water.

Your footing on the tower is shaky at best. Some ledges are slippery;
others crumble beneath you. If you're lucky, you'll just fall partway down
when you slip. If you're not so lucky, you'll find yourself taking an
unplanned bath.

You start your mission with only three lives, and you use one up every time
you go for a swim. You gain a bonus life every time you earn 5,000 points.

When you reach the top, the automatic destruction sequence sets itself off
while you make your getaway. Between towers, you can relax in the minisub,
racking up bonus points by stunning and catching fish as you speed to the
next tower. As soon as you get there, the clock starts again.

The game ends when you topple the last tower or lose your last life.

Towers

Tower of Eyes: This is the easiest tower to topple, but watch out for the
flying eyeballs that see every move you make.

Realm of Robots: Mechanical enemies make your life miserable until you
topple this tower.

Trap of Tricks: Be careful going through doorways. Some of them lead
nowhere.

Slippery Slide: You'll wish you had grips on your shoes when you take on
this tower.

Broken Path: Get ready to do some real jumping. That's the only way you'll
make it up the crumbling ledges of this tower.

Swimmer's Delight: It's delightful only if you don't mind losing a few
lives.

Nasty One: If you get to this tower, your enemies will be hopping mad --
and meaner than ever!

Edge of Doom: This is the hardest tower to topple and will take you right
to the edge of fright!

Scoring

Your final score is based on the amount of time you take to topple a tower,
the number of mistakes you make in your climb, and the number of times your
knocked partway or all the way down. You also score points as follows:

Destroy a bouncing cannonball                   100 points
Destroy a flashing block                         50 points
Catch a fish                                     50 bonus points
Step up onto some elevators                      50 points
Go up some angled stairways (first time only)    40 points per stair

The points you earn for an elevator ride depend upon the length of the
ride. You gain an extra life at every 5,000 points.

Use your controller to enter your initials in the high-score chart. Move
the controller up or down to select a letter, and press the fire button to
enter the selected letter in the chart.

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 of any portion of its
contents is not allowed without the specific written consent of
Atari Corporation.


Atari (TM), the Atari logo, and 7800 (R) are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Atari Corporation.

Tower Toppler (R) is a trademark of U.S. Gold Ltd., U.K. Tower Toppler
game program from U.S. Gold Ltd., copyright (C) 1987.

Copyright (C) 1988, Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. All rights
reserved.

Printed in Hong Kong        C300018-056 Rev. A                B.T.6.1989