BOMBERMAN by Hudson Soft THE STORY & CONTROLLER Game Story: Bomberman is a robot engaged in the production of bombs. Like his fellow robots, he had been put to work in an underground compound by evil forces. Bomberman found it to be an unbearably dreary existence. One day, he heard an encouraging rumor. According to the rumor, any robot that could escape the underground compound and make it to the surface could become human. Bomberman leaped at the opportunity, but escape proved to be no small task. Alerted to Bomberman betrayal, large numbers of the enemy set out in pursuit. Bomberman can rely on bombs of his own production for his defense. Will he ever make it up to the surface? Once there, will he really become human? CONTROL FUNCTIONS: UP- Moves Bomberman up RIGHT- Moves Bomberman right LEFT- Moves Bomberman left DOWN- Moves Bomberman down B BUTTON- This button is used when you pick up the remote controlling explosion panel A BUTTON- Lays down a bomb *SELECT- When the title screen appears, choose START or CONTINUE. Make your choice by pressing select button. *START- If you press START, the game will start if START is selected, the game will start anew from screen 1, if CONTINUE is selected, the game will progress from the last screen of the most recently played game. (for more about the "CONTINUE" option, see the section on "CONTINUE PLAY") *PAUSE- A game can be temporarily halted by pressing the START button. To start the game, you simply press the START button again. OPERATION OF THE GAME HOW TO PLAY THIS GAME Bomberman's goal is to reach the surface of the earth. However, his initial point of departure is deep in the bowel in the earth, so Bomberman must search for exitways and make his way upwards, level by level. Of course, enemy forces are lurking throughout the labyrinth, and Bomberman must overcome each and everyone in order to advance to the next level. If he should touch any of the enemy or be caught in the flames of exploding bombs, he's out for the count, so extreme caution is urged. The exitways are concealed among the brick walls and can only be found by dissolving bricks by the flames of exploding bombs, also concealed in brick walls are "power-up" panels, which Bomberman collects in order to increase his power. "BOMBS"- In the earliest stage of the game, only one bomb can be set at a time and it has very weak firepower. As "power-up" panels are taken in, the bombs become easier to use and more lethal. "BRICKS"- These dissolve when hit by the flames of exploding bombs. Hidden within the bricks are exitways and "power-up" panels, so it is wise to bomb out as many bricks as possible. "CONCRETE"- Concrete walls aren't damaged by bomb fires, so Bomberman can take shelter from exploding bombs. "EXITWAYS"- There are to be found among the bricks. After overcoming all enemies, Bomberman stands over the exitways to proceed to the next level. However, Bomberman is in real trouble if an exitway is hit by a bomb. ""POWER-UP" PANELS"- These panels turn up occasionally among the bricks. There are several different types of panels with different effects, For example, in the illustration below, a panel is shown that has a picture of a bomb. When this panel is picked up, the number of bombs can be set at one time. The pictures seen on the panels show their various effects. There are levels that can not be cleared if Bomberman does not collect a large number of "power-up" panels, so panels should be picked up whenever they are found. "ENEMY CHARACTERS"- There are 8 types of enemy characters. Each type moves in its own particular fashion, so it's wise to learn their moves. If all enemies on a single level can be knocked out by 7 bombs, a player's scores will increase greatly. VALCOM[looks like a lightbulb]- 100 pts. O'NEAL[looks like a tomato]- 200 pts. DAHL[looks like a squashed octagon]- 400 pts. MINVO[smiley face with buck teeth]- 800 pts. OVAPE[kind of like a Pac Man ghost]- 100 pts. DORIA[a big blob]- 2000 pts. PASS[tiger face]- 4000 pts. PONTAN[smiley face, I guess]- 8000 pts. "BONUS LEVELS"- A bonus level is awarded after the consecutive five levels are cleared. The objective on bonus level is to take out as many enemies as possible within a limited time. On these levels, Bomberman can't be hurt by exploding bombs, so dump the explosives as much as you can. CONTINUE PLAY CONTINUE PLAY This function makes possible extension of a game under the same conditions ever after a game is nominally over. It involves somewhat complicated features, but once a player learns secret codes, games can be stored and continued at any time. When a game is finished, a secret code made up of alphabet characters (A-P) is displayed. If these are memorized and input, the computer restores your game. Be sure to record the secret codes as not to make any errors in code input. How to input codes- Try to use recorded secret codes to restore a game. Start by selecting "CONTINUE" on the title screen. Then press the "START" button. A screen will appear, asking players to input secret codes. Use the directional button to select letters of the alphabet and press button 1 to input them, if the directional button is pressed to the right, characters will appear on screen in alphabetical order; if pressed up, down or to the left, characters will appear in reverse order. If you input all characters correctly, the previous game will be restored. Do all character input carefully, because a single error will make it necessary to start over from the beginning. NOTE *NOTE Exploding bombs may cause temporary discoloration of blocks on screen or cause the screen to go fuzzy momentarily. These temporary occurances have no effect on game progress. During the course of a game, players may discover new technics, hidden characters, and other features not covered in this manual. These are part of the challenge of this game and it's up to the player to work them out. Good-Luck! Typist's Note- I typed the manual verbatim, which would explain typos or bad grammar. Also, I believe Ovape is actually worth 1000 pts. And I have no idea what button 1 on the controller is. Thanks for watching. Ferg (wombat2@ix.netcom.com)