From: "G. L. Sicherman" BoulderDash [NES-XB-USA] JVC Musical Industries, Inc. -- Stoneford, an old adventurer ill in bed, called his son, Rockford, to his side. Handing Rockford an old map, he said: "My son, you must take up the quest I never completed. Find the Secret Jewels of the Six Worlds, and you will be rich beyond your wildest dreams!" These were his final words. As Rockford, your quest begins in the strange and perilous Boulder World! An underground world swarming with weird enemies, all out to prevent you from collecting the priceless diamonds just waiting to be mined. Can you master the enchanted walls, transform butterflies into jewels, find the mysterious escape tunnel, and get away from the growing amoeba before it engulfs you? Six different magical words of adventure await you in BOULDER DASH! CONTROL PAD Moves Rockford up, down, right, or left. START BUTTON Press this button to start the game when the opening screen appears. If you leave the opening screen on for about thirty seconds, a demonstra- tion of the game appears. Press the Start button to return to the opening screen and start the game. If you need to pause the game while you are playing, press the Start button. To go back to the game, press it again. A BUTTON AND B BUTTON If you move the Control Pad up, down, right, or left while you're pressing the A and B button, you can dig mud or pick up one diamond next to you without moving in that direction. You can also push a boulder away from you, without moving, using this technique. When you are trapped and can't move in any direction, hold down the A and B buttons at the same time for more than one second. This allows you to escape from the town and return to the entrance of the World you are now in. But you will lose one Rockford when you do this. | YOUR CURRENT SCORE | NUMBER OF DIAMONDS | YOU NEED TO COLLECT | IN THIS TOWN | | TIME REMAINING | | | | | | Press the Select button to choose between One Player and Two Player, and press the Start button to decide. Press the Control Pad right or left to choose your character's color, and press Start. To enter your password, press the Control Pad right or left to move the cursor sideways, press the Control Pad up or down to change the number on the cursor, and press the A button when you have entered your pass- word. If you are playing the game for the first time, just press the A button when the password screen appears. The next screen shows you which world you are on. Press the Control Pad to choose which town you want to go to, then press the A button. Press the A button again, and the game starts. When your game is over (what a shame!), you can choose whether to "END" or "CONTINUE" that game. On the same screen, your password will appear. Write it down for next time, so you can begin playing from the same world where you left off. As Rockford, the hero of this game, you have six Worlds to explore on your quest. Each World has four towns. Your goal is to collect the required number of diamonds in the towns of each World. The number of diamonds you have to collect is shown at the top left of the screen. After you collect them all, a door will appear which leads to the next town. When you have completed the four towns of a World, you can go on to the next World. You decide in which town you should start in each world. NOTE: Each town has its own unique tricks and puzzles which you must solve in order to win. When you use your password to begin playing in a World where you left off before, you must go through all four towns, even if you completed some of them before. You begin the game with four Rockfords - one to play, and three in reserve. With every 2000 points you earn, you receive an extra Rockford. Rockford loses a life when he touches an enemy or something falls on him. You can cause rocks or diamonds to drop by digging a hole under them. Be careful not to drop them on yourself, or they will crush you. Some enemies turn into nine diamonds when they are hit by an object you have dropped. You can move a rock until it touches another object to block it. You can only move rocks which have empty space on the other side of them, and only one rock at a time. When you surround an Amoeba on all four sides with rocks, the Amoeba turns into a diamond. If you are lucky enough to enclose several Amoebas at the same time, all of them will turn into diamonds. When an Amoeba touches another enemy, that enemy turns into nine diamonds. The Amoeba multiplies itself during the game. When it reaches a certain number, it turns into a rock. Nobody knows what this number is. DOOR - This appears when you collect the required number of diamonds in each town. DIAMOND - This is the treasure you are seeking. MUD - Rockford can dig through the mud. ROCK - Rockford can't dig through rocks. Rocks do not always look like rocks - in some towns, they look quite different from what you might expect. WALL - Rockford can't dig through the wall. SPECIAL STONE WALL - For certain periods of time when it is active, this wall changes rocks to diamonds. NOTE: Be aware that the appearance of mud, rocks, and walls is not always the same. Each World has its own unique forms. These enemies give you points when destroyed. * BUZZBUZZ * PINGPING * FLAPFLAP * BUBBLEBUBBLE * BIMBIM * GURIGURI These enemies turn into diamonds when destroyed, but do not give points. * PUFFPUFF * PIROPIRO * TACKYTACKY * AMOEBA KNOW YOUR ENEMY Some enemies move clockwise, while others move counter-clockwise along the wall of the tunnel. CRUSH ENEMY AND BREAK WALL When an enemy is crushed by a rock, the enemy explodes and breaks ob- jects around it. So by crushing an enemy beside a wall, you can make a hole in the wall. DROPPING A ROCK ON THE ENEMY Dig a hole up to a rock until you are right under it, and wait for an enemy to appear below you. Then move aside to drop the rock onto the enemy. GET HIGH SCORE WITH SPECIAL STONE WALL If you find a Special Stone Wall, dig over and under it, and drop rocks on it. The first rock that hits the wall makes it active, so that for a certain period of time, the rocks that drop onto the wall will turn into diamonds as they fall through the wall. Be sure to clear room below the wall. When the wall's magic runs out, it acts as an ordinary wall.