Activision CRACKPOTS

                            PEST CONTROL HANDBOOK

                   Approved By Brooklyn Block Association

We're infested! A bug barrage is swarming out of the sewer, chomping away at
every building in town. Entire neighborhoods are now crumb piles! Over in
Brooklyn, Potsy, the rooftop gardener, is defeating his beloved building with
his only weapon - potted petunias. Be a good neighbor. Help him take potshots
at the insect invaders... Quick! When too many bugs crawl into the windows,
they'll start eating you out of house and home!


>> BASIC BUG BASHING

1.  Insert game cartridge into your video game console with power OFF. Then
    turn power ON.

2.  Plug in Joystick Controller/s. Solo player uses left Joystick.

3.  The difficulty switches are not used.

4.  Select game with game select switch.

                Game 1                         Game 2
              One Player              Two Players taking turns

5.  The Joystick Controller is held with the red button in the upper left
    position. To move Potsy left or right, push the joystick left or right.
    To push the a pot over the ledge, press the red button when Potsy is
    standing behind it.

6.  To begin a new game, press the game reset. You'll hear the pitter-patter
    of tiny bug feet rising up through the sewer. Take a breath and get
    ready...  here they come!!

7.  Bugs come in waves. The first wave is black, then colors progress to
    blue, red and green. There are twelve bugs in each wave. When you make it
    through the green wave, the cycle will repeat. However, you'll then be at
    the next level and all the bugs will move faster.

8.  Six Bonus Bugs are displayed below the sewer at the beginning of each
    wave. Whenever a bug slithers into a window, a Bonus Bug will disappear
    from this display. When six bugs have crawled into the windows, all six
    Bonus Bugs will be gone and your Joystick's red button won't release any
    more flowerpots. Then, one of the crawlers will chew up a layer of your
    building, and you'll repeat the wave at a slower level.

9.  The game ends when the creepy crawlers have gobbled up six layers of the
    building.


                         [picture of screen omitted]


>> SCORING

                --------------------------------------------
               |        |          COLOR OF BUGS            |
               |        |                                   |
               |  LEVEL | BLACK  |  BLUE  |  RED   | GREEN  |
                --------------------------------------------
               |    1   |   10   |   20   |   30   |   40   |
                --------------------------------------------
               |    2   |   20   |   40   |   60   |   80   |
                --------------------------------------------
               |    3   |   30   |   60   |   90   |  120   |
                --------------------------------------------
               |    4   |   40   |   80   |  120   |  160   |
                --------------------------------------------
               |    5   |   50   |  100   |  150   |  200   |
                --------------------------------------------
               |    6   |   60   |  120   |  180   |  240   |
                --------------------------------------------
               |    7   |   70   |  140   |  210   |  280   |
                --------------------------------------------
               |    8   |   80   |  160   |  240   |  320   |
                --------------------------------------------

Bonus Bugs. 200 points are awarded for each bug print remaining at the end of
every wave.


>> BUGS OF MANY COLORS

The bugs crawl up the wall in four different directions, depending one their
color.

    o   Black bugs crawl straight up.
    o   Blue bugs wiggle side to side.
    o   Red bugs crawl diagonally.
    o   Green bugs zig-zag between two windows.

                         _____      _____      _____
                        |_____|    |_____|    |_____|
                Black      X                     X      Blue
                 bug       .                     .       bug
                 path      .                      .      path
                           .                     .
                           .                    .
                           .                     .

                         _____      _____      _____
                        |_____|    |_____|    |_____|
                           X                            Red
                           .                             bug
                                 .                       path
                                       .
                                             .
                                                   .

                         _____      _____      _____
                        |_____|    |_____|    |_____|
                                      X                 Green
                                      .                  bug
                                 .                       path
                            .
                                 .
                                      .


>> GETTING THE FEEL OF CRACKPOTS

Becoming a seasoned Crackpot doesn't just happen after one day in the big
city. You need to stick around for a while and practice. For starters, hang
out with Potsy. Check out his speed and style. Develop a sense of timing
based on the speed and direction of the bugs and the time it takes for a
petunia to fall. This will vastly improve your accuracy at pitching a plant
at just the right time.


>> JOIN THE ACTIVISION "CRACKPOTS"

If you help Potsy pitch pots at pests for points totaling 75,000 or more,
you've been more than a good neighbor. Consider yourself an official
Activision Crackpot. Send us a photo of the TV screen showing your qualifying
score, along with your name and address, and we'll send you the official
Crackpot emblem. Be sure to write the name 'Crackpots' and your score on the
bottom corner of the envelope.


>> THERE'S A BUG IN THE HOUSE!!!

Most people aren't too disturbed by insects crawling in the woods and wilds.
Let one appear in the parlor, however, and a frenzy sets in.

Yet, like us, these tiny creatures are nature's handiwork and, as
co-inhabitants of planet Earth, perhaps we should all get to know each other.

Roaches are old-timers. Human existence began one million years ago, while
roaches have been around for 300 million years! If you're wondering what to
serve a roach for dinner, they'll eat most foods, in the pantry or in the
garbage. But did you know they also like glue, watercolor paints and stale
beer?

Fleas are the high jumpers of the planet. They can leap up to 50 times their
height. We'd have to jump up to 300 feet to compete with that!

Clothes moths love wool. But did you know that they eat your sweaters before
they become moths? The mother moth, leaves her eggs on your clothes and rugs
and, when they hatch baby caterpillars emerge. That's who does the eating!
In their winged state, they are unable to eat.

Spiders are not insects, they're Arachnids. Insects have six legs, spiders
have eight. A spider in the house is a friend indeed! If you can tolerate
their presence, and don't run them the wrong way, they will do you no harm.
Allow them to spin their gentle webs and rid your house of many insect pests.


>> HOW TO BECOME THE NEIGHBORHOOD CRACKPOT

Tips from Dan Kitchen, designer of Crackpots

Dan Kitchen grew up in a family of game designers and computer pros (Garry
and Steve are his brother designers). It's no wonder that he was designing
games right out of high school - in 1979! In his spare time, he plays folk
guitar, tinkers with electronics and jogs.

"Crackpots is a game that requires balance, advanced planning, good aim and
the ability to remain calm when things appear hopeless. Follow these tips and
you'll soon be a smashing success.

"Play the sidewalk - that is, try to hit the bugs while they're crawling
along the sidewalk or when they're just coming out of the sewer. The closer
they get to the windows, the less time you'll have to react.

"When you're up in the higher levels, the bugs will crawl too fast for you to
get them all. You're better off playing, say, three selected windows in the
middle. It's OK if a few crawlers get in on the extreme right or left. You
only have to get seven out of twelve bugs to go to the next level.

"Notice that the red bugs end up 2 windows away from where they began their
diagonal climb. And, while the building is still pretty high, the green bugs
will end up at the window over the spot they started from below. Keep this in
mind and you'll soon be dropping the right pot at the right time.

"Then, if you still can't stamp out bugs, you can always buy the original,
inner-city bug killer - a pair of shoes with pointed toes. Know what I mean?
Drop me a line if you do. God bless!"

               [picture of Dan Kitchen and signature omitted]

                                -*-  -*-  -*-

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                      Activision, Inc., Drawer No, 7287
                           Mountain View, CA 94039

     Atari 2600 and Video Computer System are trademarks of ATARI, Inc.

   (c) 1983 Activision AX-029-03                        Printed in U.S.A.

This document obtained from the History of Home Video Games Homepage, �1997-1998 by Greg Chance