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Moonsweeper - Imagic - Atari 2600    Manual Scan icon HTML Manual Box Scan icon  

Moonsweeper
MOONSWEEPER
Game Program Instructions

USS MOONSWEEPER --ALERT!

Your mission: to reach and rescue miners stranded on hostile moons in Star Quadrant Jupiter�!

Warning!  Proceed with extreme caution.  Deadly photon torch and space bullet showers
reported.  Aurora flare activity in Quadrant at lethal levels.  Take evasive action, then land on as
many moons as you can.  Avoid colliding with lunar landmarks.

Unidentified alien ships patrol moons and launch armed surface destroyers.  Survive at all costs
or the miners won't make it!

GAME OBJECTIVES

-Pilot the USS Moonsweeper around the sun of Star Quadrant Jupiter�.  Avoiod or destroy
aurora flares, photon torches and space bullets.  Land on one of the moons as it passes.
-Rescue 6 miners from the moon.  Avoid towers and shots fired from alien surface destroyers.
-While skimming the moon's surface, shoot towers, surface destroyers, Launcher Ships and
Lunar Satellites.
-When you've picked up 6 miners, fly through Accelerator Rings to blast off into outer space.
Then begin another rescue mission.

PREPARE FOR THE MISSION

-Pull GAME SELECT switch to pick a skill level from #1 (easiest) through #4 (hardest)
-To start playing, press red button on LEFT joystick controller.
-Whenever you complete a succesful rescue mission and blast off, the game automatically
advances to the next higher level.
-In 2-player games, each player's turn continues until he loses a Moonsweeper.  Also, the skill
level does not advance unless both player successfully blast off from a moon.

GAME PLAY

-To control flight direction, push joystick left or right.  Moonsweeper stays on the same horizontal
level.
-Avoid collisions with space bullets, aurora flares and photon torches by moving evasivley,
shooting them or using your Forcefield Shield.
-To fire: aim Moonsweeper, then press red button.
-If you are hit, activate a reserve Moonsweeper by pushing joystick left or right.

FORCEFIELD SHIELD

-To activate Forcefield Shield:  Press red button while pulling joystick toward you.
-Using the Shield costs you score points (unless your score is zero.)
-You cannot land while using the Shield.

MOON SELECTION

-Watch for moons that orbit into the vicinity of your spacecraft.  Move Moonsweeper to the moon
you want to reach.  The automatic pilot takes over and flies your craft down to the Rescue
Altitude.
-The moon color indicates rescue difficulty
        Blue moons: easy, many miners
        Green moons: less easy, fewer miners and more surface destroyers
        Yellow moons: more difficult, scattered miners and more aggresive surface destroyers
        Red moons:  most difficult, miners are far apart and surface destroyers attack very
                           agressively.
-The higher the skin level the more likely you are to encounter more challenging moons.

THE RESCUE

-JOYSTICK controls speed and direction over moon surface.
  -Pull back to fly slower, push forward to accelerate
  -Move stick left or right to head in those directions
-Pick up MINERS by flying over them.
  -The Radar Spotter indicates where the next miner will appear.
  -Pick up 6 miners to complete your rescue flight and leave this moon.
  -Miner symbols at the top of the screen flash when Moonsweeper has a full load.
-TOWERS appear all over the moonscape.  Avoid or destroy them!
  -If you crash into a tower you lose a Moonsweeper and its passengers and return to the Orbit
   Sequence
-LAUNCHER SHIPS descend close to the moon and release surface destroyers that attack
 Moonsweeper and capture miners.
  -To shoot at Launcher Ships, pull back on joystick and press red button.
-SURFACE DESTROYERS are the major menace to your successful rescue mission! Once they
 land, surface destroyers swing back and forth across your flight path, shooting at you and
 capturing miners.
  -Watch out for missiles launched from surface destroyers.
   A hit makes you lose Moonsweeper with all rescued miners on board.
  -Collisions with surface destroyers will also destroy Moonsweeper.
  -To shoot surface destroyers aim Moonsweeper and press red button.
-SATELLITES cross the screen from time to time, and do not attack you; however, shooting them
 gets you big scores!
  -To shoot a satellite, pull back on the joystick while pressing the fire button.

ACCELERATOR RINGS
-When 6 miners have been rescued, Moonsweeper is full and you can blast off.  Fly through
 Accelerator Rings to get enough speed to break away from the moon's gravity.
  -Accelerator Rings are placed in a series, if you don't get up enough speed in one series, watch
   for the next one.
  -The number of rings you must fly through depends on your speed; generally, 2 or 3 rings gives
   you the necessary momentum for blast-off.
  -Rings are lined up in a straight row only on Blue moons.  Fly a zig-zag course to achieve blast
   off speed on Green, Yellow and Red moons.
-YOU ARE AWARDED AN EXTRA MOONSWEEPER, TO A MAXIMUM OF NINE, WHEN YOUR
 SCORE INCREASES 10,000 POINTS.

GAME VARIATIONS

NUMBER         MOON COLORS
     1                BLUE and GREEN
     2                BLUE, GREEN and YELLOW
                       (mostly BLUE and GREEN)
     3                BLUE, GREEN and YELLOW
                       (mostly GREEN and YELLOW)
     4                BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW and RED

SCORING

IN ORBIT
For each SPACE BULLET, AURORA FLARE, or PHOTON TORCH.............................10 points
For each use of Forcefield Shield...........The longer you use the shield, the more points you lose.

ON MOONS

                              SHOOT
                              TOWER,
                             SURFACE           SHOOT
              RESCUE        DESTROYER          LANDER           SHOOT        BLAST
COLOR         MINER         OR MISSILE          SHIP          SATELLITE       OFF
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Blue            10              10               200             300           980
Green           20              10               200             500          1225
Yellow          30              40               300             700          1470
Red             40              80               300            1000          1960

� 1983 IMAGIC
All Rights Reserved

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