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Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom - Sega - Atari 2600    Manual Scan icon HTML Manual   

Buck Rogers
FOR THE ATARI 2600 AND ALL COMPATIBLE SYSTEMS

BUCK ROGERS PLANET OF ZOOM
OFFICIAL ARCADE VERSION

SEGA VIDEO GAME CARTRIDGE


It's the 25th century.  You are Buck Rogers fighting the battle
of Planet Zoom.  This is a race against death.  Your ultimate and
most powerful enemy is the deadly MOTHER SHIP!

There are 16 levels of increasing difficulty - each with four rounds of
challenging space combat.  Before you meet the MOTHER SHIP, your
pilot skills and nerve are tested against deadly ELECTRON POSTS,
ALIEN SAUCERS and smashing SPACE HOPPERS.  This is a battle of
speed, accuracy and endurance.  Your time consumption is crucial to
your survival.  If you deplete your time you lose one of your five fighter
ships.  The faster you fly, the sooner you'll get to the MOTHER SHIP,
allowing yourself more time to destroy it.  You begin with a full time line
when you destroy the MOTHER SHIP.  Be aggressive but don't be reck-
less.  This is do or die cosmic combat and it's the MOTHER SHIP or YOU!


USING YOUR CONTROLS

You begin your battle with a fleet of five fighterships that you
have to navigate one at a time above the surface of Planet Zoom
and into space.  Use your joystick to control them.  Press your
fire button to start the game.

JOYSTICK CONTROL
Pushing your joystick FORWARD will increase the speed of flight.
Pushing the joystick BACK brings your ship to its minimum speed.
Pushing your joystick to the RIGHT will turn your ship to the right.
Pushing your joystick to the LEFT will turn your ship to the left.
If the joystick is angled up or down while turning right or left,
it will fly at that angle.
Keep your fire button depressed for rapid fire.


HOW TO PLAY

The object of the game is to destroy  the MOTHER SHIP before the
MOTHER SHIP and its deadly ELECTRON POSTS, SAUCERS, and SPACE
HOPPERS destroy you!


THE SCREEN
Your screen shows the view as you skim over the surface of Planet
Zoom.  Beyond the horizon is outerspace and your battle with the
ALIEN SAUCERS then the MOTHER SHIP.

The upper edge of your screen shows your score.  To the right of your
score is the number of ELECTRON POSTS you must pass through
before engaging in the next round of battle.  Below is your time line
ticking down from right to left.  As your time runs down your time line
will change color to indicate the amount of time you have left.

GREEN . . . . . . . . . . . .More than 1/2 of your time is left.
YELLOW  . . . . . . . .Between 1/2 and 1/4 of your time is left. 
FLASHING RED  . . . . . . . .Less than 1/4 of your time is left.

When your time is depleted, your ship will be destroyed.  If that
was your last ship, the game is over.  If you run out of time before
reaching the next level, you return to the first round of that level
minus one ship.

The surface of Planet Zoom changes color as your battle takes you to
more treacherous terrain with each level.


GAME PLAY
Now you are ready to do battle on the Planet Zoom.
The game is divided into five skill levels.  Each level is made up of
four rounds of battle.  Each round you encounter a different combination
of enemies and aliens.  The combinations get more difficult as you
advance through each round of every level:

LEVEL 1 - BLUE/BLACK

ROUND 1 - 20 ELECTRON POSTS
ROUND 2 - ELECTRON POSTS
          and ALIEN SAUCERS
ROUND 3 - ELECTRON POSTS
          and SPACE HOPPERS
ROUND 4 - The MOTHER SHIP
          with ALIEN SAUCERS

Each level is made up of the same sequence of rounds.  As the levels
increase the number of ELECTRON POSTS you must pass through to
advance to the next round of battle grows.  As the number of ELECTRON
POSTS increase, the aliens also increase in number and density.

LEVEL ONE . . . . . . . .20 posts
LEVEL TWO . . . . . . . .23 posts
LEVEL THREE . . . . . . .28 posts
LEVEL FOUR  . . . . . . .33 posts
LEVEL FIVE  . . . . . . .28 posts faster and closer together
LEVEL SIX . . . . . . . .31 posts faster and closer together
LEVEL SEVEN . . . . . . .34 posts faster and closer together
LEVEL EIGHT . . . . . . .37 posts faster and closer together
LEVEL NINE  . . . . . . .34 posts Even faster and more close together
                                  than the last four levels.

For the remaining seven levels of play the number of posts increases
by three each level and every three levels decreases by three as the
speed and density of the alien's attack increases.


ENEMIES AND ALIENS

Electron Posts - explode on impact.  They get closer and faster with
each level.

Alien Saucers - explode on impact and fly by in greater number and
density as levels of difficulty increase.

Space Hoppers - explode on impact.  As levels of difficulty increase,
Space Hoppers will appear in greater number and density.

The Mother Ship - This is your greatest challenge.  Its destruction
is your greatest victory.  No enemy is more cunning or powerful.
The MOTHER SHIP can be destroyed only by hitting it twice.


SCORING

ALIEN SAUCER . . . . . . . .300 points
SPACE HOPPER . . . . . . . .300 points
ELECTRON POST  . . . . . . .500 points
MOTHER SHIP  . . . . . . . .20,000 points

Every 50,000 points you receive an additional fightership plus a
full time line.

STRATEGIC TIPS

* Fly as fast as you can without crashing.  You receive added points 
  for added speed.
* Saucers are more easy to hit as they fly past from behind.
* Enemies appear in waves in your battle with the MOTHER SHIP.  Try
  to determine the rhythm of the waves.
* Don't be reckless - your fightership steers with super-sensitive
  response.
* Over-steering will cause you to collide with ELECTRON POSTS,
  ALIEN SAUCERS or SPACE HOPPERS.


Copyright (c) 1983 SEGA ENTERPRISES, INC.
BUCK ROGERS is a trademark of The Dille Family Trust.
ATARI and 2600 are trademarks of Atari, Inc.

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