INTRODUCTION In barbaric times fight your way to the Demon Dome to compete in the most horrifying carnival of motor destruction ever. Your Mission You're trapped inside the first city. Dr. A. Noid has set up an elaborate ring of protection around himself. You've got to fight your way through three cities to reach the head honcho himself. Surviving is the name of the game and the odds are stacked against you. Make sure you find the supplies to get you through this alive. Money doesn't mean a thing, but food does. Any food you find can be traded for gas, repairs, ammo, weapons, etc. But first, you've got to find some. While you cruise the streets, keep your eyes open for entrances to buildings. Your search won't be easy as you've to fight your way through the streets with kamikaze cars hot on your tail. Inside the buildings you'll find food, weapons, tools for your car, and if you're lucky, an arena pass to get you into the arena at the city's gate. You'll also find armies of slimy mutants waiting to get their hands on you. Sure you have a gun, but if you run into one of those goons... you won't exactly be the picture of health. Once you have the area pass, find the arena where Dr. A. Noid stages demolition contests between his toughest mutants and anyone who's crazy enough to try to take them on. If you make it through the arena, you'll be in the next city in your search for Dr. A. Noid. If you make it through to the third city, you're not just lucky, but crazy, too. You've still got Dr. A. Noid to put away. He's waiting in the last arena, ready to give you the challenge of your life. Your ATV With two cars in one, you're geared up for just about anything. Use your ATV to drive around the city and blast your enemies away with your ATV Gun. Drive your smaller Ram-Car in the arenas where you can zip in and out of tight places. Don't let the size fool you; this is one tough car. ATV Standard Equipment ATV Gun: Move the joystick to aim your ATV at your enemy, and then press the FIRE BUTTON. The gun has a relatively short range, so be accurate. Dashboard Indicators: Located at the bottom of the screen, from left to right, the controls are: Fuel Gauges: Fill up your tank at gas stations. Keep a close eye on the gauge, your ATV isn't exactly an economy car. Speedometer: Speed is displayed in kilometers per hour. Damage Indicator: Located below the speedometer and radar on the Spectrum and Amstrad, and in the middle of your dashboard on the Commodore, this displays how much damage your ATV has sustained. You can get your ATV repaired at any gas station. Radar Screen: Active after you have installed the radar, this feature will let you see the enemy, as well as the hazards around you. (Not available on Commodore version). Turbo-Charger, Airbrake, Battle-Armour Indicators: These light up when the features are active. ATV ADD-ON EQUIPMENT As you roam the buildings, you'll find equipment to add to your ATV. You can also purchase equipment at any of the gas stations throughout the city. Turbo-Charger: This handy piece of equipment boosts your power and fuel- burning efficiency to the max. Once you've installed this, you'll bast past any car on the road. Radar: You are the centre dot; the other moving dots are the enemy. In the Arena, the hazards are marked on the radar, as well as the enemy's location (Not available on Commodore). Airbrakes: These enable you to stop instantly, giving you all the control of the best high-precision vehicles available. You'll never have to skid to a stop again. Missile Launcher: This is the launcher for heat seeking missiles, capable of finding and hitting any enemy in the immediate vicinity. A bargain with ten missiles included with the launcher. To switch between the Missile Launcher and the regular ATV gun, press the SPACEBAR (Commodore only). Battle-Armour: With this double protective plating, you'll be able to withstand the most brutal attacks. Your ATV will last twice as long, without compromising performance. ATV Handling [Joystick Up] - Forward, accelerate [Joystick Right] - Turn Right East [Joystick Left] - Turn Left West [Joystick Down] - Reverse, decelerate The Streets Your objective is to find the area pass in one of the buildings and then high-tail it to the arena. The only problem is that you've got to find your way around a strange city, with a bunch of crazy rebel cars after you. Remember your ATV doen't run on air. You have to find the things you need to keep your ATV running. The streets are filled with hazards such as oil slicks, land mines, gun turrets and dead ends. If you run over an oil slick, you'll lose control and spin out. When you run over a land mine, you'll damage your ATV. Gun turrets guard parts of the city. If you're lucky, you caa time the shots, and try to get past them without getting hit. If you're not so lucky, you'll end up in the crossfire. Some streets are blocked by debris. You can fire your ATV guns to clear the way, Although, some debris cannot be cleared. While you're cruising the streets, enemy cars ram into you trying to smash you to bits. Fire your ATV gun by aiming your ATV in the direction of the enemy and pressing the FIRE BUTTON. In the first city, one shot'll do it. In the second and third cities, it isn't going to be so easy; you might have to shoot them two or three times to stop them. You can save your game while you are in the streets (Commodore only), to do this follow the instructions in the section entitled "Saving your Game". The Buildings You're running low on fuel, and your car's starting to look a little beat up. What are you going to do? Get to a gas station fast. They don't take cash or credit cards. So the only thing that'll get you anywhere is food. You've to find a building where food is stored. Then you can get the food you need to trade for gas, repairs, ammo and weapons. If you've lucky, you'll find other goodies like ammo, ATV equipment and maybe a gallon of gas or two. Also keep your eyes open for an arena pass. Watch out for slimy mutants roaming around the buildings. They're slow, so you can probably out run them although blasting them is a whole lot more fun. If you run into one your health level will go down. The mutants come out of holes in the ground. So steer clear of those; if you fall into one you're dead. The Control Panel The control panel is located at the bottom of the screen. From left to right, the indicators are: HEALTH This displays your health status. As you run into mutants, toilets or hang around the buildings too long your health will deteriorate. To get health back up, pick up one of the First-Aid Kits located somewhere in the building. if your health level goes down to zero, you're dead. WEAPON The current weapon is displayed. You can find other guns in the building, or puchase them at gas stations. You start the game with a pistol. The other weapons are: a magnum, shotgun, assult rifle, small uzi and machine gun. The bigger the gun, the more powerful your fire is. That means you can blow the mutants away and break through debris without much effort. (* Note the machine gun is not available on Spectrum and Amstrad versions). INVENTORY This shows the last thing you picked up, such as: food, add-on ATV equipment, water, etc. AMMUNITION The amount of ammunition remaining is displayed. You start off the game with 99 rounds of ammunition for your pistol. When you find or purchase any ammunition this is added to the total amount, not to exceed 99 rounds. The same ammunition is used for all the guns inside, you can't use this ammo in your ATV. KEYS The number of keys picked up in the buildings are displayed. Keys are used to open locked doors. FOOD The number of food units is shown. Some food is worth more than others. If you find a big crate of food, you'll get more food units. But if you find some cans of Slu, well it isn't much, but it adds up. Finding Your Way Around As if crazy mutants weren't enough, you've also got to contend with a maze of walls and debris. Some areas may be blocked by "shoot-able" debris. To get rid of that stuff, just aim your gun at it and shoot. Depending on the gun you're using, it might take one or more shots to get through, Other times you'll just have to find another route. Most of the rooms in buildings are locked, so you'll have to find a key to unlock the door. Be careful though, not all doors lead to rooms with useful things inside. Joystick Control [UP] - North [RIGHT] - East [DOWN] - South [LEFT] - West [FIRE BUTTON] - Fire What You Can Find There is more than just food around the buildings. Here are just some of those things: ADD-ON ATV EQUIPMENT Commodore users can find a Missile Launcher, complete with 10 shells. Spectrum & Amstrad users can find a Radar, Turbo-Charger, Airbrakes and Battle-Armour. FIRST-AID KITS Sometimes there are more than one in a building: other times, there aren't any in a building. If you find one of these, it'll boost your health level by 25%. But if your health is up to 100%, it can't be improved. You cannot store extra first-aid kits; so if you don't need one, don't pick one up. AMMUNITION Ammunition is in closed crates. Each crate contains 10-25 rounds of ammunition. Your total amount cannot exceed 99 rounds. So if you don't need it, don't pick it up. The ammunition you pick up is only usable inside buildings; a different type of ammunition is used in your ATV. KEYS You can store as many keys as you can find. So if you find keys in one building, you can use them in another building. FUEL CANS In some buildings you can find fuel for your ATV. Each can you find will give you a quater of a tank. ARENA PASS This will get you into the arena and on to the next city if you can manage to beat the enemy cars. Gas Stations Gas station attendants only have one motive - profit. If they can trade food for services, gas, ammo or weapons, they can sell the food. Gas stations are smaller than the other buildings in the city, and their entrances are not marked. That makes them hard to find. There are several gas stations in each city. Once you enter a gas station, an attendant asks you what you want. You can select from weapons, ammunition, repairs and gas. To select a category, move the joystick LEFT or RIGHT, until the finger on the screen is positioned over the desired category, and press the FIRE BUTTON. You will be able to select from three different items. Move the joystick LEFT or RIGHT again, and press the FIRE BUTTON. After you have made your selections, press the EXIT button. The Arena You've found the arena pass and entered the arena. Do you have the energy to face a battalion of demolition derby cars all by yourself? Hop into your smaller Ram-Car and prepare for a smash up fight. The enemy has larger, heavier and slower cars than yours; be quick. No guns or missile launchers are allowed. You've got to ram the enemy; hitting him often enough to smash him to bits. The Dashboard From left to right, dashboard indicators are: FUEL GAUGE You start in the arena with a full gas tank. Make the most of the time you have. SPEEDOMETER It is important to watch the gauge when you're heading for a collision. If you're trying to smash an enemy, the faster you're going, the greater the damage. If you hit an obstacle or the arena wall, the faster you're going the more damage you'll sustain. DAMAGE INDICATOR This displays the amount of damage you have sustained. Keep in mind that if you are hit head on, you will sustain more damage than if you are hit on the side. Arena Instructions Not only do you have to defeat the enemy cars, you've got to watch out for land mines, flipping floor tiles, and the bottomless pit that surrounds the arena. Keep on the areas marked by square tiles or the dirt areas. You have to work your way through an obstacle course of bombs, gaping holes and craggy cliffs, all while trying to fend off crashing cars. If you fall into the black abyss, or get smashed up, that's the end. Things You Can Find GAS CANS If you're running out of gas, pick up one of the gas cans in the arena. This adds a quater of a tank to your fuel supply. But if you don't need it, don't pick it up yet, it won't help you. WRENCHES Pick up one of these to repair your car and reduce the damage level by 25%. COMMODORE This is a smash up derby with no rules and no holds barred. No guns or special weapons allowed; this is strictly a machine versus machine fight. Make the most of your hits against the enemy. If you smash him in the right spot, at the right speed, you'll blast him to bits. The ring is wide open; so there's no place to hide and no place to run to. You're forced to match wits against an army of kamikaze cars in an open arena. Saving Your Game Commodore users can't save a game, but if you are able to get through a city, a password will appear after you have completed the arena. When you start the game again, type the password at the "Press the Fire Button" prompt when the screen showing the ATV appears. Winning The Game So you've managed to make it to the second city in your hunt for Dr. A. Noid. Congratulations. Don't go patting yourself on the back just yet. Now things really get tough. The enemy is a lot harder to defeat; now you have to shoot the cars a couple of times to destroy them. The mutants in the buildings are harder to shoot, and the arena is going to be one tough scene. And just wait until you get to the third city, you're in for a real test. Dr. A. Noid will be waiting for you in the arena. He may be little, but he'll be the toughest opponent you'll ever face. Quick Reference Keyboard Controls -> - (Back arrow in the upper left of the keyboard). Quit the game. You will return to the opening title screen. S - Sound on/off. SPACE BAR - Toggle between cannon shells and heat seeking missiles (if available). Joystick Controls: Joystick in Port #2. (c) 1988 Gremlin Graphics Software Limited.