Sentinel 7800 Game Manual, Rev.A 12-13-90 12-18-90 7800 Game Manual SENTINEL Atari Corporation is unable to guarantee the accuracy of printed material after the date of publication and disclaims liability for changes, errors, or omissions. Reproduction of this document or of any portion of its contents is not allowed without the specific written consent of Atari Corporation. Atari, the Atari logo, 7800 and Sentinel are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. Copyright 1991. Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1302. All rights reserved. a-Locate and Absorb Energy!-a You�re a scientist, and your invention, a pulsating, glowing orb called the Sentinel, absorbs and stores energy from a variety of sources. Now Earth is threatened by deadly aliens, and you must use your creation to save your planet. You must defend the Sentinel against alien attacks as it glides over four enemy planets, absorbing all alien energy sources in its path. The Sentinel absorbs the energy from every power pod or energy capsule you shoot with your light gun. When an energy source is hit, the Sentinel absorbs the targets energy. Each of the four alien planets is more difficult to conquer than the last. You must find and destroy the alien lords who guard each planet�s power station. Destroy the station to destroy the planet. Then move on to the next world. A single alien entity controls the other alien lords. When you have destroyed the four worlds, the Sentinel will come face to face with this evil entity. Defeat the final evil to complete your quest! a-Getting Started-a 1.With your TV switched on. insert the Sentinel cartridge into your Atari 7800 as described in your owner�s manual. Switch on your console 2.Connect a light gun to the left controller port. 3 There are three difficulty levels: Easy, Standard and Difficult. Press SELECT to set the difficulty level and the number of players (1 or 2). 4.Press RESET or fire at the screen to begin the game. b-Optional Game Controls-b To enhance play, the following optional game controls allow you to pause and restart the game: * Press PAUSE to pause the game. Repeat to resume play. * To restart the game press RESET. * Pressing the SELECT button will return you to the option screen. a-Playing the Game-a Sentinel is a fast action arcade-style game requiring lightning fast reflexes and skillful shooting through four deadly alien landscapes. A direct hit on enemy power cells, ground and air attack vehicles, colonists, and other obstacles drains the energy from the alien source and feeds it into the Sentinel. You begin the game with four lives. Damage from enemy fire bleeds energy from the Sentinel, and too many hits from enemy fire destroys the Sentinel. The Sentinel moves steadily across each alien landscape. You must destroy enemies on the ground before they have a chance to fire, and blast enemy ships out of the sky before they can touch the Sentinel. Some aliens do more damage than others. Each alien world contains a greater number and variety of alien obstacles than the previous world. The aliens move with greater and greater speeds, darting in to steal precious energy from the Sentinel. Try to blast as many aliens as you can and absorb their energy. Try not to miss an alien. If you miss an alien twice, your energy decreases by one point. You will need to store a great deal of energy to survive the deadly battles with alien leaders, At the end of each alien world you will encounter the spinning space station of that world�s alien leader. The sinister stations quickly repair damage inflicted upon them. You must shoot fast to destroy the station before the repairs are completed. You can also pick up power pods and energy capsules on each alien world. These pods and capsules will enhance your shooting abilities or provide extra capabilities to the Sentinel. (See Items.) a-Screens-a The Sentinel screen is divided into two sections. The top section shows game action. Number of remaining Sentinels is displayed in the upper left hand corner of the action screen. The tower section is the statistics screen. The Statistics screen shows, from left to right: Player Up -- Current player Score -- Current score Name of Current World Super Shot -- Denotes availability of Super Shots. The word READY will blink when this power is available. Map -- Topographic representation of planet�s surface. Tracks movement across world so player will know how far he has to go in order to complete world Strength -- Depicts how much energy remains in Sentinel. a-Items-a You can find the following items on enemy worlds to help you in your battle: Energy Pod circles the Sentinel. Super Shots destroy all enemies on the screen. Activate Super Shots by shooting one shot at the Sentinel orb itself. You begin the game with one Super Shot per Sentinel and earn more from Energy Pods. Super Shots are not effective against alien leaders. Automatic Shots cause the Sentinel to automatically absorb energy from enemy air or ground targets. Movement allows the Sentinel to increase vertical movement speed. Energy Capsules revitalize the Sentinel. a-Strategy-a There are unmarked secret places in each alien world. Locating these hidden areas and firing at them will provide you with bonus points and items. Use Super Shots only when you are hopelessly outnumbered or in a similarly bad situation. Always shoot the enemies closest to you first. a-Scoring-a Dish(...)10 Ring(...)10 Tube(...)20 Star(...)30 Cube(...)30 Satellite(...)40 Blob(...)50 Ship(...)50 Spike(...)60 Hover Craft(...)70 Probe(...)80 Mine (...)90 Bonus Pods(...)10 Large Pyramid(...)10 to 500 (mystery value) Medium Pyramid(...)100 Small Pyramid(...)250 Static Pyramid(...)300 Big Aliens(...)50 per hit Copyright� 1991, Atari Corporation. Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1302. All rights reserved. Printed In China. {C3000 18-069)